Detroit River Hawk Watch Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 21, 2026 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 2366 49753 51474 Osprey 0 4 11 Bald Eagle 3 29 96 Northern Harrier 2 169 340 Sharp-shinned Hawk 27 1346 3300 Cooper's Hawk 6 30 37 American Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 43 134 136 Broad-winged Hawk 1 32 75180 Swainson's Hawk 0 1 2 Red-tailed Hawk 120 664 782 Rough-legged Hawk 2 3 3 Golden Eagle 4 11 11 American Kestrel 0 212 740 Merlin 1 20 41 Peregrine Falcon 1 23 35 Unknown Accipitrine 0 1 6 Unknown Buteo 6 14 32 Unknown Falcon 0 1 3 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 2 7 22 Total: 2584 52454 132251 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 08:00:00 Observation end time: 16:00:00 Total observation time: 8 hours Official Counter: Bella Maiwurm, Gracie Sangmeister Observers: Andrew Sturgess, Bella Maiwurm, Don Sherwood, Erika Van Kirk, Rebekah Graham Visitors: We welcome visitors to our site at the Lake Erie Metropark Boat Launch. We are always willing to discuss the events of the day. Let us share our enthusiasm with you. There will be busy days, that may require our full attention, but those are not that frequent, and they provide great thrills for all. We can predict good days to some degree, but the exact hour is up to the birds, so be prepared to put in some time for the best results. Pack a lunch😊 Weather: You could tell that the wind speed chart today was going to be jagged, full of peaks and valleys, by watching the speed of the wind turbines over in Canada. They sped up, or slowed, even stopping at times, hoping like we were for a steady speed. The flight lines were all over the place depending on that speed, which topped out at six mph but did not stay there for long, two or three flatlines were included in today�s wind�s excellent adventure. The temperature reached sixty-seven degrees. The barometer did fall a tenth and a half today, ending at thirty point one nine inches. We once again stared into the Blue Sky of Death with no cloud sign posts to guide us locating raptors. Not all of the raptors paid heed to the shenanigans of the wind, so we did have something to count. Raptor Observations: Turkey vultures ruled today, as they should in October. Two thousand, three hundred and sixty-six flew by. Some to the north, some very high, some, thankfully, came close enough to prevent further eye strain to our tired peepers. The vultures continued to show the way to the buteos. Red-tailed hawks totaled one hundred and twenty birds, red-shoulders are frequent flyers this year with forty-three birds today. Twenty-seven sharp-shins joined the festivities. Six Cooper�s hawks stiffed armed their way through. Three bald eagles were noted. Two northern harriers flopped though. Falcons were one apiece for merlins and peregrines, but no kestrels were seen today. Our special birds today included one late broad-winged hawk, four golden eagles, and two rough-legged hawks, one of each morph, kettling together. Non-raptor Observations: The light winds kept a lot of the birds out of the sky today. One lone pelican was up testing the lift later in the day. A Carolina wren and a nuthatch made some noise. A red-bellied woodpecker showed his wing patches as he undulated over the slip. Two kingfishers flew together in front of us today. We had not seen those birds for a little while, but now they seem to have made up and returned. They stayed through the entire watch last year. The crows are picking up the pace, sixteen hundred and ninety-eight flapped their way through today. Bluejay numbers are in decline with three hundred and eighty-six today. The monarchs refuse to take no for an answer, two of them answered the call today. Predictions: I am beginning to think that I could save some time by cutting and pasting yesterday�s forecast for the next few days. Once again, we will look into uncontaminated blue skies with sixty-eight degrees of heat. The winds are predicted to be northerly in the four to six mph range. The winds are usually the least accurate part of the forecast so we will see what actually happens. The barometer will be rising slightly. I would expect more of the same with raptors. Usually, the numbers fall off as a high continues due to the light winds but we have been seeing, or straining to see, some interesting birds the last few days. Fingers crossed for more 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