Detroit River Hawk Watch Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 07, 2026 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 0 0 0 Osprey 0 2 2 Bald Eagle 6 13 13 Northern Harrier 4 30 30 Sharp-shinned Hawk 55 81 81 Cooper's Hawk 0 2 2 American Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0 Broad-winged Hawk 340 570 570 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 0 Red-tailed Hawk 6 25 25 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 0 0 American Kestrel 39 66 66 Merlin 3 3 3 Peregrine Falcon 0 3 3 Unknown Accipitrine 1 2 2 Unknown Buteo 1 5 5 Unknown Falcon 0 0 0 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 2 2 2 Total: 457 804 804 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 08:00:00 Observation end time: 16:00:00 Total observation time: 8 hours Official Counter: Gracie Sangmeister Observers: Andrew Sturgess, Bill Peregord, Michelle Peregord, 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: A lovely Labor Day in the neighborhood. Eighty-degree temperatures kept it warm, cooling breezes from the northeast at first, southeast off the lake later, kept the edge off the heat. Clouds were everchanging with a slow buildup of plentiful cumulus clouds at first, followed by, in later afternoon, a splendiferous display of impressive cirrus clouds at their artistic best. The barometer continued to climb; reaching a peak at 30.22 inches around noon. That pressure, or thereabouts, will last till about midday tomorrow, when a drop will take place and the stage will be set for thunderstorms on Wednesday. Raptor Observations: We are slowly easing our way up the ladder with another best day for the site. The traditional September migrants are starting to materialize in better numbers. Today, the broadwings again took the gold, three hundred and forty of them made the trip. Sharp-shins are upping the ante with fifty-five fluttering by. American kestrels were trying to keep pace but fell a bit short, thirty-nine of them racing by on the helping wind. We saw our first merlins today. Three of them took the bait. Six bald eagles passed over, along with the same number of red-tailed hawks. Only four harriers flew over, I think they are cutting over the lake since we know they are flying in greater numbers than we are seeing. The fight line shifted around today due to the changing winds. Most of the lines had one thing in common; they were up in the nosebleed strata of the sky. Broadwings looked like ants at times. Thankfully, the cirrus clouds provided a gauzy background to help us see them. We had some great eyes helping us, thanks to all that did assist. Non-raptor Observations: The gulls were up in numbers today with the darker ones causing consternation from time to time as they acted as clickbait, making us look at them since they can be dead ringers for soaring raptors. A flight of four killdeer was noted this morning. Carolina wrens and warbling vireos gave occasional snippets of their repertoire. Cedar waxwings were noted in pursuit of flying insects. Great blue herons continue to patrol the area. The pelicans were out in numbers today, not as large I suspect as they will be later, but thirty to forty were wheeling behind the tree line. We noticed our first ring-billed grebes today as three were seen hanging together. Monarchs flew high and low today with one hundred and forty-seven showing up. Predictions: The wind was erratic during the watch, changing strength and direction frequently. The southeast wind did not hurt the count fatally, as we had broadwings late in the watch. This appears to be our fate tomorrow as southeast winds will dominate during the watch hours. They should peak at ten mph at the end of normal watch hours. Temperatures will be about the same as today, near eighty degrees. The barometer will peak at ten o�clock, then start a multiday decline which should last until the weekend. Cloud cover should be in the fifty percent range. With the falling barometer, I wouldn�t expect a great day tomorrow but birds are on the move and hopefully the winds won�t be too aggressive for them to come by and see 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