Detroit River Hawk Watch Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 04, 2024 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 6 6 6 Osprey 0 0 0 Bald Eagle 0 0 0 Northern Harrier 2 9 9 Sharp-shinned Hawk 10 21 21 Cooper's Hawk 1 4 4 American Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0 Broad-winged Hawk 77 226 226 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 0 Red-tailed Hawk 1 14 14 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 0 0 American Kestrel 1 17 17 Merlin 0 1 1 Peregrine Falcon 0 0 0 Unknown Accipiter 1 2 2 Unknown Buteo 3 3 3 Unknown Falcon 0 0 0 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 0 1 1 Total: 102 304 304 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 08:00:00 Observation end time: 15:00:00 Total observation time: 7 hours Official Counter: Michael Patrikeev Observers: Andrew Sturgess, Bill Peregord, Don Sherwood, Jo Patterson, Mark Hainen Visitors: We welcome visitors to our site by the boat launch in Lake Erie MetroPark. We are willing to spread the gospel with pamphlets and information cards, along with tips on IDing the raptors, and photography tips for those behind the cameras. Let us share our enthusiasm for this miracle of nature with you. Weather: The winds, what there were of them, came mostly from the southeast for us, but there was a little disconnect between the Grosse Ile airport reports and what we felt at our location. At times there was little to no wind, but as the day progressed it picked up a little. Most of the wind turbines in Canada took the day off today. Regardless of where it emanated, the result was that the flight line, although not well defined, was pushed mostly to the north of us. Temperatures reached the mid-seventies, and with the cooling effect of an onshore breeze, it was a pleasant day with plenty of sunshine. The barometer reached its peak for the foreseeable future today and started to decline a little. The threat of rain seems to have diminished somewhat but apparently there will be some change coming with more clouds and possible showers. Raptor Observations: The broad-winged hawks trickled by today in very small groups, or as solo flyers. Their flight lines were not consistent and given that these birds are perhaps the most elusive of the raptors we count, we had to keep our head on a swivel. They are a “blink and you will miss them kind of bird”. We ended the day with seventy-seven, which earned them the top step of the podium again. Sharpies were a distant second with ten representatives. We did count six turkey vultures today that were flying in the right direction in formation. Most of them are still just flying back and forth with no serious intent yet. The only other species with multiple members was the northern harrier, but only two showed their white rumps. Other birds with single counts were the red-tailed hawk, the kestrel, and the Cooper’s hawk. Non-raptor Observations: The cedar waxwings were still frantically flycatching, at times coming very close to the humans that were present. It was mostly a quiet day on the water as the Forster’s terns went to parts unknown for most of the day. The Caspian’s were at work but quietly. We were serenaded by a leather-lunged warbling vireo for most of the day. A pair of blue-winged teal flew by rapidly. The pied-billed grebes were back in force today, hunting under the layer of vegetation on the water. The tree swallows seemed less obvious today, but barn swallows and purple martins were still present. The tree swallows sometimes disappear to find a new insect hatch but return in a day or two. Lots of great egrets were in the marsh this morning, close to the road where they made a striking display of bright white statuettes. Predictions: Tomorrow does not look to hold much promise. The winds will be out of the south bringing heat and moisture. Temperatures will hit the eighty-degree mark but the real feels will add a couple of degrees to that. The barometer will be falling throughout the day, dropping three tenths, or more, by day’s end. We should have mostly sunny skies during the watch but clouds may begin to roll in later in the evening. The south wind does tend to turn the birds away to the west before they reach our neck of the woods. The strength should be rising from six to nine mph during the watch hours. We are generally sheltered by the trees from the wind from that direction so it may be an uncomfortable day with little to show for it. Let’s hope that some of the more resolute birds, I’m talking to you, Sharpies, make it into our 10X range tomorrow. ======================================================================== 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