Detroit River Hawk Watch Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 11, 2021 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 0 0 0 Osprey 0 9 9 Bald Eagle 0 3 3 Northern Harrier 0 20 20 Sharp-shinned Hawk 0 37 37 Cooper's Hawk 0 0 0 Northern Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0 Broad-winged Hawk 0 222 222 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 0 Red-tailed Hawk 0 10 10 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 0 0 American Kestrel 6 43 43 Merlin 0 0 0 Peregrine Falcon 1 3 3 Unknown Accipiter 0 0 0 Unknown Buteo 0 1 1 Unknown Falcon 0 0 0 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 0 0 0 Total: 7 348 348 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 08:00:00 Observation end time: 15:00:00 Total observation time: 7 hours Official Counter: Kevin Georg Observers: Andrew Sturgess, Don Sherwood, Mark Hainen Visitors: We are still dealing with the residue of the Covid 19 situation. The workers at the site will be in an enclosed area that is designed for four people only. We still love to interact and share our love of hawk watching with visitors. Feel free to ask questions and look over our shoulders to help you follow the birds. Watch the weather for favorable forecasts as the birds are predictable to some degree based on weather situations. One other thing of note this year; the boat-launch bathroom building has been shut down for the foreseeable future due to plumbing issues. There are Porta-Johns in the parking lot should you require them. Weather: The trees were doing the Watusi today under the influence of a boisterous, incessant wind coming out of the SW. In the morning hours before it built to its full strength, we did see a few birds that must have roosted nearby overnight. The day was mostly sunny but there were a couple of slowly passing bands of clouds early on that gave us some relief; they were substantial enough to have us doubting the forecast a little. The barometer did fall, but only a few hundredths of an inch. The dominant factor in our lack of success today was the strength and direction of the wind which pushed any migrants well to the north. Raptor Observations: We did manage to snag some falcons today, six kestrels and one peregrine. Most of those came early before the wind really gained momentum. The local eagles, osprey and red-tails were seen frequently surfing on the wind. We did receive a report from Port Huron that made us aware of broad-wings crossing just south of Lake Huron. This is a good demonstration of the effects of wind-force on birds that ride the winds to move to the south. They take the path of least resistance to conserve energy during their long migration journey. There is a lot of distance (about eighty miles) between the bottom of Lake Huron and our spot at Lake Erie which is the last chance for them to avoid crossing a large body of water. If they are forced away from their normal route by adverse winds, they find another way. Non-raptor Observations: Today the swallows moved close by to harvest a hatch on the water in front of us. Swallows at times can be very effective mimics of falcons in flight. It is necessary to watch carefully and avoid calling them too early to avoid hawk watcher demerits and the accompanying shame and attached stigma. The high winds seemed to reduce the number of gulls high in the air and they were seen riding the storm out on the water. Our cedar waxwings were present today in the alder accompanied by a few unidentified warblers. A green heron flew close by and perched for a short while in a tree along the shore. Warblers were still present in the woods along the trails. Predictions: Tomorrow will see continuing, though diminishing, winds from the SW. Cloud cover will build to make it a partly cloudy day instead of partly sunny. Barometric pressures will stay below thirty inches and wobble a little during the day. There is an underlying threat of precipitation and we did see some very high cirrus clouds today for a brief time which may have foretold a chance of rain. The rain threat is relatively low but will build in the coming days until Wednesday, when it appears more probable. Tomorrow is not a day on paper that seems extremely promising for migration but sharpies and kestrels should be increasing in numbers during the second half of the month and hopefully they will keep us busy. ======================================================================== Report submitted by Andrew Sturgess (ajyes72@gmail.com) Detroit River Hawk Watch information may be found at: http://www.detroitriverhawkwatch.org More site information at hawkcount.org: https://hawkcount.org/siteinfo.php?rsite=285 Count data submitted via Dunkadoo - Project info at: https://dunkadoo.org/explore/detroit-river-international-wildlife-refuge/detroit-river-hawk-watch-fall-2021