Detroit River Hawk Watch Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 15, 2024 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 0 6 6 Osprey 0 7 7 Bald Eagle 3 16 16 Northern Harrier 4 54 54 Sharp-shinned Hawk 57 538 538 Cooper's Hawk 1 6 6 American Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0 Broad-winged Hawk 206 1726 1726 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 0 Red-tailed Hawk 2 29 29 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 0 0 American Kestrel 6 81 81 Merlin 1 6 6 Peregrine Falcon 0 1 1 Unknown Accipiter 0 4 4 Unknown Buteo 1 6 6 Unknown Falcon 0 2 2 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 0 12 12 Total: 281 2494 2494 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 08:00:00 Observation end time: 15:00:00 Total observation time: 7 hours Official Counter: Michael Patrikeev Observers: Andrew Sturgess, Ben Sehl, Bill and Michelle Peregord, Don Sherwood 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: Another hot day in the trenches as we waited to see what the winds would bring us. The previous days had set a precedent that was matched today. More productive mornings than afternoons, as the winds have shifted to a more southerly direction, have become the normal template. Winds with a more easterly direction give the birds plenty of zip to race by, winds from the south cause them to turn before they reach us. We reached eighty-degrees today and the shade of the maple tree was once again a blessing. The barometer stayed well above thirty inches, despite some minor gyrations. Winds were from the southeast at around five mph to start the watch, but increased and turned more southerly as the day progressed. Out on the lake, we could see small whitecaps, so with the fetch across the lake, the speeds were a little higher than at the sheltered weather station. Raptor Observations: We had kind of a topsy-turvey day, with the two main players, broadwings and sharp-shins, seeming to swap altitudes. The sharpies were the high-fliers, and the broadwings flew lower, which seemed unusual. Neither of them broke any records today as we counted two hundred and six broad-winged hawks and fifty-seven sharpies. The kestrels were a distant third with six participants. Northern harriers and bald eagles were close behind with four and three representatives respectively. One Cooper’s hawk and one merlin closed out the tally. Non-raptor Observations: A fairly quiet day on the home front as the winds seem to move the swallow and gull activity away from us. The Caspian terns and Forster’s terns continue to work the slip, but in small numbers. The black-crowned night heron made a lap this morning. Flickers continue to make their presence known. We are seeing a few small flocks of blue jays in the early hours, but nothing of any size yet. A single mute swan has been up in the slip near us recently. We did see a small murmuration of starlings off in the distance to the northeast. On the aeronautic front, we did one of the Cessna Skymasters for the first time this year, and an AutoGyro aircraft was seen off in the distance. Predictions: The temperatures will be a few degrees lower tomorrow and the winds are predicted to stay southeast all day, following the usual pattern of starting low and rising as time goes by. The barometer will start a gradual decline tomorrow, and will stay lower for a week or more. Cloud cover will increase on Tuesday and Wednesday with chances of precipitation, but below forty five percent. The winds show signs of some of our favorite northeastern direction during that time. We know that we are in the window for lots of broadwings to show up, but will the low pressure and chance of rain cause them to skirt the area. Stayed tuned….. ======================================================================== 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