Detroit River Hawk Watch Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 24, 2023 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 196 1097 1097 Osprey 0 48 48 Bald Eagle 0 67 67 Northern Harrier 2 322 322 Sharp-shinned Hawk 33 3531 3531 Cooper's Hawk 0 8 8 American Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0 Broad-winged Hawk 48 107410 107410 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 0 Red-tailed Hawk 6 65 65 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 0 0 American Kestrel 12 901 901 Merlin 0 29 29 Peregrine Falcon 0 16 16 Unknown Accipiter 0 0 0 Unknown Buteo 0 1 1 Unknown Falcon 0 1 1 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 0 0 0 Total: 297 113496 113496 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 08:00:00 Observation end time: 15:00:00 Total observation time: 7 hours Official Counter: Kevin Georg Observers: Andrew Sturgess, Bill Peregord, Don Sherwood, Frank Kitakis, Mark Hainen, Michelle Peregord, Rosemary Brady Visitors: We welcome visitors to our site and are very willing to share migration information, photography and ID tips with them. We have cards and pamphlets, so come and talk to us. 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. Thank you. Weather: The winds started in the north and stayed in the quadrant just to the right of that, turning NNE, and finally NE by day’s end. Although the maximum steady speed was ten mph, the gusts exceeded that, and it served much the same function as yesterday’s hearty blow, cleaning the sky of nearly all birds except for gulls and local eagles. Temperatures did reach seventy-five degrees and there was abundant sunshine. Growing numbers of cumulus clouds filled in what had been a blank blue canvas at the start of the watch. The barometer was falling today but still relatively high, managing to stay above thirty inches of mercury. The NE wind provided comfort from the heat but discomfit from the lack of birds to count. Raptor Observations: We are in a transition period now that the weather, good or bad, may not really affect either way. The broad-wings have mostly run their course and the turkey vultures are just now getting started. Most of the other raptors that peak in September are starting to taper off quite a bit. Today, we started to see larger numbers of turkey vultures in the early hours but they seemed to disappear except for solos and pairs later on. They won the gold star with 196 rocking and rolling in the gusty winds. Also getting a gold star, (OK, so everyone gets one, there are no losers) were the broad-wings with forty-eight appearing; no large kettles were seen today. Sharp-shinned hawks got their gold star because thirty-three of them showed up. We started to see a few more red-tails today, not enough to brag about, but enough to win a gold star, with six of them going for long glides on the robust winds. Kestrels, bless their little gold-starred hearts, were the only falcon to show today, with twelve of them looking for dragon flies to snack on. Our only other winners were the northern harriers who only appeared twice today. Non-raptor Observations: The bird seen most frequently today was the blue jay. They are starting to appear in gangs of 200 or so. Most of them were well off to the north today, not easily visible. Nevertheless, Mark managed to tally 2,588 of them during the day. Only forty-seven monarchs were seen today, most in the morning hours before the gusts increased. A couple of northern shoveler ducks raced by our observation post. A high kettle of cormorants caught our eye as these are birds that usually fly in low lines over the water and to see them “two or three bins up” seems wrong somehow. We did see a small flock of shorebirds fly by this morning, but were unable to positively ID them. Possibly dunlin, since the flight seemed erratic and they were tightly bunched, but no gold star for us. A few kildeer are infrequently seen in flight, but they live along the entrance road to the park and are still present. Predictions: We will have similar winds tomorrow, perhaps a little lower in speed and more consistent in direction from the NE. It isn’t uncommon to see several days in a row of essentially the same winds anymore. We are at the bottom of a large high-pressure system centered well up in Canada. Although, it may seem promising when first looking at what appear to be days of favorable winds, they rarely deliver on the promise for all of those days. The barometer was falling today, but will rise tomorrow, we’ll have to wait and see whether that changes our luck. Temperatures will be cooler in the high sixties. The sky will be cloudier, with a potential for rain during the next week. Cheers, Andrew ======================================================================== 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 Count data submitted via Dunkadoo - Project info at: https://dunkadoo.org/explore/detroit-river-international-wildlife-refuge/detroit-river-hawk-watch-fall-2023