Detroit River Hawk Watch Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 17, 2022 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 13 45 45 Osprey 0 6 6 Bald Eagle 1 20 20 Northern Harrier 9 74 74 Sharp-shinned Hawk 83 1124 1124 Cooper's Hawk 0 6 6 Northern Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0 Broad-winged Hawk 5 26708 26708 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 0 Red-tailed Hawk 4 93 93 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 0 0 American Kestrel 19 293 293 Merlin 1 12 12 Peregrine Falcon 0 8 8 Unknown Accipiter 0 0 0 Unknown Buteo 0 0 0 Unknown Falcon 0 0 0 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 0 0 0 Total: 135 28389 28389 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 08:00:00 Observation end time: 15:00:00 Total observation time: 7 hours Official Counter: Kevin Georg Observers: Bill Peregord, Don Sherwood, Mark Hainen, Michelle Peregord Visitors: Thank you to the folks who joined us today for the Lake Erie Metropark Hawk Fest! Don’t despair if you were not with us today, Hawk Fest and our volunteers will be returning tomorrow as well! Our hawk watch volunteers and counter will be at the boat launch from 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM while the Hawk Fest event is held at the Marshlands Museum starting at 10:00 AM. We are located by the boat launch in Lake Erie Metropark in a fenced off area at the Hawk Watch site. This does not mean that we do not welcome interaction with any and all visitors. We enjoy talking about what we do and sharing our knowledge with beginners and experts alike. Please feel free to come up and talk to us. We usually have our backs turned to the parking lot as we scan the skies in front of us. This should not be interpreted as a sign of reluctance to engage: this is how we do our job. We have friendly people that do not bite and the welcome mat is always out. Weather: Another day, another guest writer! Hello everyone! My name is Jessie Fletcher and I am the wildlife biologist at the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge and I serve as the facilitator for the Detroit River Hawk Watch. I was lucky enough today to spend the day with our counter and volunteers and will be here all day tomorrow as well so come say “hello”! The weather was a bit humid and warm for my likes and apparently the birds weren’t fond of it either. A south wind all day meant a slow day for migrants who were not interested in fighting against the wind on their journey south. Raptor Observations: The day started and ended with our accipiter friends the sharp-shinned hawks trickling by. The heat of the day brought low, but better numbers of the birds moving by and keeping us entertained and also brought some variety including northern harriers, American kestrels, and a few other species. A lunchtime Merlin was the highlight of our day. Non-raptor Observations: A local juvenile osprey gave all of us at the count site a good show towards the early afternoon in a few vain attempts to catch lunch. Although technically a raptor, I’ve included our friend in this non-raptor section because it was not counted as a local bird and provided great entertainment. Our volunteer photographers got some good shots of the poor bird’s failed dips and dives and all enjoyed a good, long look during a monotonous part of the day. Not much else new joined us for this hazy, humid day. About 3,400 blue jays silently passed by on their migration and a few yellowlegs made the day go quicker. A visitor let us know that the red knot that has been gracing Lake Erie Metropark with its presence continues to be here. Predictions: Tomorrow’s weather looks to be a bit more of the same, but we are eternal optimists and love to be wrong when we anticipate a slow day! ======================================================================== Report submitted by Jessie Fletcher (jessica_fletcher@fws.gov) 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-2022