DRHW- Lake Erie Metropark Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 26, 2011 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 0 335 335 Osprey 1 47 47 Bald Eagle 0 74 74 Northern Harrier 0 89 89 Sharp-shinned Hawk 3 1877 1877 Cooper's Hawk 0 70 70 Northern Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 2 2 Broad-winged Hawk 0 195201 195201 Swainson's Hawk 0 5 5 Red-tailed Hawk 0 72 72 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 0 0 American Kestrel 2 369 369 Merlin 0 8 8 Peregrine Falcon 1 5 5 Unknown Accipiter 0 6 6 Unknown Buteo 0 0 0 Unknown Falcon 0 2 2 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 0 1 1 Total: 7 198163 198163 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 13:00:00 Observation end time: 15:00:00 Total observation time: 2 hours Official Counter: Jonathan Stein Observers: Rodney Laura Visitors: Just Rodney and I. Weather: It rained hard until 2 pm and then mercifully stopped, allowing us to get two hours in at the end of the day. The sky remained overcast. Only a few patches of blue peeked through. The wind was light out of the southeast with a strong gust creeping up on us every now and again. Raptor Observations: Not much was moving after the rain broke. The highlight came right as we were readying for departure when a peregrine falcon materialized over Celeron Island and made a beeline for the trees across the channel, a welcomed end to the day. Non-raptor Observations: We learned who wins a fish-centric tug-of-war between a ring-billed gull and a double-crested cormorant. Answer: cormorant. Predictions: This front continues to linger. A 20 percent chance of rain in the morning increases to a 50 percent chance of rain in the afternoon. The wind will be light and out of the south and southeast. Hopefully everybody is on the move in the morning because the afternoon could get wet. ======================================================================== Report submitted by Greg Norwood (Greg_Norwood@fws.gov) SMRR- Lake Erie Metropark information may be found at: http://www.drhawkwatch.org Site Description: The primary site used by the Detroit River Hawk Watch (a joint venture of the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge and it's Friends group, the International Wildlife Refuge Alliance) is the Boat Launch at Lake Erie Metropark located approximately 20 miles south of Detroit, Michigan. A secondary site, the Headquarters of Pointe Mouillee State Game Area is used during certain wind conditions. When staffing is available, both sites can be used at the same time. The season begins on the first day of September and concludes on the final day of November. For details and directions, log on to www.drhawkwatch.org Directions to site: Lake Erie Metropark: >From I-75, exit at Huron River Drive (exit 27). Continue east on Huron River Drive. Turn left on West Jefferson and proceed a few hundred yards to the entrance of Lake Erie Metropark. After paying the entrance fee, follow the signs to the Boat Launch.