Detroit River Hawk Watch Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 01, 2023 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 0 0 0 Osprey 0 0 0 Bald Eagle 0 0 0 Northern Harrier 0 0 0 Sharp-shinned Hawk 7 7 7 Cooper's Hawk 0 0 0 American Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0 Broad-winged Hawk 17 17 17 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 0 Red-tailed Hawk 0 0 0 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 0 0 American Kestrel 4 4 4 Merlin 1 1 1 Peregrine Falcon 0 0 0 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: 29 29 29 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 08:00:00 Observation end time: 15:00:00 Total observation time: 7 hours Official Counter: Andrew Sturgess, Kevin Georg Observers: Andrew Sturgess, Bill Peregord, Don Sherwood, Frank Kitakis, Mark Hainen, Sam Heilman Visitors: We welcome visitors to our site and are very willing to share information and ID tips with them. However, during times of high traffic requiring extra focus and concentration, we would respectfully ask that everyone use their indoor voices and allow us to fulfill our mission to the best of our abilities. Weather: “For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone, the flowers appear on the Earth, the time of the singing of birds is come, And the voice of the turtle is heard in our land.” It’s time to turn our eyes skyward once again. A reverent hush fell over the assemblage as we performed the Blessing of the Bins ceremony in which we respectfully ask that our binoculars may not fail us in our hour of need. We were greeted with a pleasant day indeed in which to leave the starting gate. Moderate temperatures in the 70’s and a cooling breeze that changed from an early northerly direction to a directly opposite southerly wind with enough eastern spice in it to cool us as it blew in over the lake. The peak of the barometric pressure early in the morning hours coincided with the direction change and the pressure started falling slowly and will stay lower for about a week. Although it was not a jail break sort of day, we had enough migrant birds to keep us interested and plenty of local birds to fill in the blanks. It was fitting that our first countable bird was September’s featured raptor, the broad-winged hawk. Raptor Observations: Although it is fairly unusual to see lone broad-wings given their gregarious nature, it isn’t unusual to see them on the first day of the watch anymore. We totaled 17 birds, although 2 was the most we observed at one time. Sharpies were the next highest in the totals column with 7 of them fluttering by. American kestrels were coming in pairs, but only a couple of times, totaling 4 on the day. One angry, determined merlin motored through, but in a strange twist it was a swallow that took a run at it, instead of the customary detour by the merlin to take a run at anything close to it. Non-raptor Observations: Our local birds were busy today. There are possibly a pair of immature red-tails patrolling their territory, looking so at home that we did not count them as migrants. The “local Coop” was on patrol today as well. A pied-billed grebe was spotted this morning but dove below the water and was not seen again. A pair of kingfishers made a brief appearance letting us know that they survived the winter and all is well. The double-crested cormorants were out in force, at one time concentrating their numbers over a school of bait fish along with the usual attendant gulls and also five American White Pelicans. Two pairs of mute swans were present with the males squabbling over territorial rights. Caspian terns also had some raucous run-ins as the parent bird seemed protective of its offspring, chasing off intruders. A small number of Forster’s terns were noted sitting on the base of a buoy as is their custom the last few seasons. Cedar waxwings were out today hawking insects from the tree branches nearby. A warbling vireo was heard early in the day. Predictions: The next few days may be challenging. Winds will be SW, peaking in the afternoon in double digits and bringing the heat with them. This may be our hottest spell of days this year. The barometer will be in the 29-inch range for the most part until a change comes on Thursday with thunderstorms and afterwards a rising barometer bringing welcome winds starting with an N in the direction. Usually, these summer-like days with southern winds are not productive at our site so my optimism is tempered at this point. ======================================================================== 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-2023