Detroit River Hawk Watch Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 08, 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 1 1 Northern Harrier 0 12 12 Sharp-shinned Hawk 0 25 25 Cooper's Hawk 0 0 0 Northern Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0 Broad-winged Hawk 0 187 187 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 0 27 27 Merlin 0 0 0 Peregrine Falcon 0 2 2 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: 0 274 274 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 08:00:00 Observation end time: 15:00:00 Total observation time: 7 hours Official Counter: Kevin Georg Observers: Andrew Sturgess, Patrick Mulawa 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: Once again, we spent another day watching the wondrous scenes evolving in front of us. Once again, we looked into a beautiful sky largely devoid of raptors. It gradually filled with large galleon clouds that found a more secure anchorage than yesterday. The barometer tried to climb today but actually retreated a little on its modest gains as the afternoon progressed. The wind was mostly from the west but seemed to bend to the southwest a little at the end of the day. The Windy app showed that we were at the confluence of two streams of wind, neither of them favorable for bird migration. Speeds were moderate at eight mph but would gust to twelve from time to time. Temperatures approached near eighty but the winds made it more tolerable. Raptor Observations: It wasn’t a total loss as we broke our duck with one sharp-shinned hawk. This isn’t much to write home about but I am obliged to write something every day. The local family of eagles, covering at least three generations, eventually converged in the sky with five birds playing tag for a short time. The local ospreys, including one first year bird, were busy moving fish from the water and carrying them to unknown locations behind the trees. Non-raptor Observations: The gulls were up very high today, at times barely visible without bins. Cormorants continue to confuse us, doing more high flying than swimming. The pied-billed grebes continued to monitor the floating vegetation in front of us. Momma Caspian continues to teach her reluctant child how to fish for its own food. Our resident kingfisher continues to evade my lens, laughing at my futile efforts. The sound of a red-bellied woodpecker was heard nearby in the trees. A few hummingbirds raced by. Predictions: Cooler temps will arrive on the shoulders of a NW wind tomorrow. The barometer will climb, showing a nice angle of attack on the graph although not reaching 30”. This is more promising than today’s forecast, although the wind strengthening to twelve as the day progresses may benefit our Canadian colleagues to the east of us. We have nowhere to go but up after the last couple of days so bring it on. ======================================================================== 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