Detroit River Hawk Watch Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 16, 2025 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 8318 57516 59597 Osprey 0 0 28 Bald Eagle 8 37 134 Northern Harrier 15 65 428 Sharp-shinned Hawk 90 632 3655 Cooper's Hawk 3 28 55 American Goshawk 0 1 1 Red-shouldered Hawk 23 70 70 Broad-winged Hawk 1 47 51921 Swainson's Hawk 0 1 1 Red-tailed Hawk 114 382 528 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 7 13 15 American Kestrel 5 40 963 Merlin 1 8 41 Peregrine Falcon 0 10 40 Unknown Accipitrine 0 0 1 Unknown Buteo 0 1 3 Unknown Falcon 0 0 3 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 0 6 9 Total: 8585 58857 117493 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 08:00:00 Observation end time: 16:00:00 Total observation time: 8 hours Official Counter: Jo Patterson Observers: Andrew Sturgess, Don Sherwood, Frank Kitakis, Jerry Jourdan, Johannes Postma, Mark Hainen Visitors: We welcome visitors to our site as we are eager to share the joys of hawk watching with one and all. Although there may be times in which we are all very busy and need alone-time to concentrate, those are the times that are most enjoyable for visitors as the skies are filled with migrating raptors. Weather: Given that the price of gold is at record highs, we were thinking of cashing in some of our golden eagles today. It was another bright blue day with little cloud to block the sun. The winds, at first a hushed whisper, and never over five mph, did their usual rise and falls, each fall followed by a change in direction. The directions are too numerous to list. The changing flight lines were evidence of the inconsistency. The temperature reached sixty-three. The barometer remained high, but started to decline in the afternoon, as it will for the next three days as inclement weather moves in. Raptor Observations: The turkey vultures like to see us work OT. Their usual slow start is followed by a river of birds that keep coming in ever greater numbers towards the end of the day. Eight thousand, three hundred and eighteen was the number today. At first, they flew over our heads, but later, as the wind shifted to the east, they moved to the hazy northern skies and we had to work a little harder. Red-tails were on the move today, with our season-best count of one hundred and fourteen. This is the part of the season where extra attention is given to the buteos, as red-tails and red-shoulders are both present at times, and attention to detail is required. Sharp-shins took the bronze with ninety birds, a nice rebound from the low numbers we have seen lately. The aforementioned red-shoulders had a respectable showing with twenty-three crescent-bearing winged creatures passing through. Northern harriers had a decent day with fifteen being noted. Eight bald eagles were tallied today. Seven golden eagles flew high overhead, as is their wont. We didn’t get the falcon hat-trick for want of a peregrine, but five kestrels and one merlin were observed. Three Cooper’s hawks made the clicker and bringing up the rear, was a lone broadwing. This one seemed to have a damaged wing, something we sometimes see on the late broadwings. Non-raptor Observations: The big excitement today was seeing a pair of territorial bald eagles tangle with a pair of transient golden eagles. We have seen these interactions before, where the local eagles are anxious to escort the transients out of town. Lots of diving on each other, although no blood, or feathers, were shed. The pelicans are still practicing their drafting skills, flying in long lines, all of them tucked into each other’s wake. There are still yellow-rumped warbles plying their trade. There was also a thrush, of yet to be determined lineage, in the tree with the warblers and robins. The blue jays had a little bounce-back today with two hundred and twenty. No doubt inspired by Toronto’s shellacking of the Seattle Mariners. The crows are picking up the pace a little with one hundred and forty today. The monarchs may nearly have reached the end of their rope with two today, but the winds were not kind in the afternoon, so we would not have seen them anyway. Predictions: Change is on the way again. Wet weather looks imminent on the weekend, cloudy skies as a prelude tomorrow. The most troubling thing for the watch looks to be the southerly winds that will be fairly robust, climbing tomorrow from about five mph and reaching double digits. The double-digit winds will continue for several days, although the direction may change. Temperatures will be dropping into the fifties soon, and perhaps we will feel the first sting of the impending winter. It has been summer for too long, and we need to pay our dues. Friday will probably be the best day of the coming weekend, hopefully, after the storm has passed, we will see an uptick, although I don’t see our favored wind for some time. ======================================================================== 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