Detroit River Hawk Watch Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 14, 2024 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 0 6 6 Osprey 1 7 7 Bald Eagle 1 13 13 Northern Harrier 10 50 50 Sharp-shinned Hawk 49 481 481 Cooper's Hawk 0 5 5 American Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0 Broad-winged Hawk 308 1520 1520 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 0 Red-tailed Hawk 3 27 27 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 0 0 American Kestrel 6 75 75 Merlin 1 5 5 Peregrine Falcon 0 1 1 Unknown Accipiter 0 4 4 Unknown Buteo 0 5 5 Unknown Falcon 0 2 2 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 0 12 12 Total: 379 2213 2213 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 08:00:00 Observation end time: 15:00:00 Total observation time: 7 hours Official Counter: Andrew Sturgess Observers: Bill and Michelle Peregord, Don Sherwood, Jerry Jourdan, Jo Patterson, Michael Patrikeev 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: “It was the best of times; it was the worst of times.” Well, neither of those statements were completely factual today. but we had better times in the morning with one wind, and worse times in the afternoon as the wind blew harder from the south. We are stuck in a Ground Hog Day cycle of repetitive weather in which the direction and strength of the wind determine our fortune. The wind switched from a northerly direction very early in the watch when it was weak, to south winds that grew in intensity, causing our return on investment to dwindle. Temperatures were in the high seventies again. The barometer stayed high. The cloud cover, except for a few wide-spread feeble attempts at cumulus clouds, consisted of a high cirrus haze that may have helped us catch the very high-flying birds that came at the end of the day. Raptor Observations: The broadwings, the star of September migration, took the honors today, but with a modest three hundred and eight birds. The morning hours were better, but even then, the kettles were small. At the end of the day, they must have been using altitude sickness prophylactic treatments since they were mere dots in our vision. Sharp-shins were a little shy today with only forty-nine making an appearance. They too, took the very high road later in the day. It looked to be good harrier day as we started well out of the gate, as four of our first birds, traveling together, were harriers. The winds tempered our enthusiasm as the day progressed and ten was the final count for the watch. Kestrels provided six members to our total count. Red-tailed hawks were in the minority with three participants. We had a single bird in the bald eagle, osprey, and merlin category. Non-raptor Observations: We had another fly-by from a black-crowned night heron today, an irregular, but welcome visitor. As I drove in this morning, just past the gate, I saw a small group of wild turkeys on the side of the road, at sixty-five miles per hour, it was difficult to get an accurate count. Swallows were still present and very active, but thankfully, away from our sightlines. A great blue heron and a great egret both flew by in a stately manner. We had our first small flock of blue jays today, only about twenty birds, but that is the thin edge of the wedge of things to come. We anxiously await the return of Mark Hainen from Alaska. He is our specialist in blue jay population computation. Predictions: We have a couple of more days where we are predicted to have virtually the same conditions, changing on Tuesday, when the barometer will drop and cloud cover will increase. Sunny tomorrow with a high of eighty, yada, yada, yada. The only thing of real interest is the winds that are predicted, and even more important than that, predictions aside, is what we actually get. The forecast says wind from southeast, starting at five mph, rising to eight mph during the watch. Not the best wind, but better than a straight southern wind. At least we should be more comfortable in the heat with an onshore breeze, no matter what birds the wind may bring us. ======================================================================== 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