Detroit River Hawk Watch Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 28, 2023 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 4685 84724 86857 Osprey 0 2 53 Bald Eagle 3 28 100 Northern Harrier 1 105 460 Sharp-shinned Hawk 25 2930 6683 Cooper's Hawk 3 43 54 American Goshawk 1 1 1 Red-shouldered Hawk 54 223 223 Broad-winged Hawk 1 109 107691 Swainson's Hawk 0 1 1 Red-tailed Hawk 95 860 946 Rough-legged Hawk 2 12 12 Golden Eagle 2 7 7 American Kestrel 1 296 1281 Merlin 1 12 43 Peregrine Falcon 1 26 46 Unknown Accipiter 0 0 0 Unknown Buteo 0 1 2 Unknown Falcon 0 0 1 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 0 0 0 Total: 4875 89380 204461 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 08:00:00 Observation end time: 16:00:00 Total observation time: 7.5 hours Official Counter: Kevin Georg Observers: Andrew Sturgess, Bill Peregord, Carolyn Small, 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: Today was an hors d’oeuvre that reminded us that winter is coming and, like revenge, it is best served cold. Temperatures and winds, combined with a nearly complete, opaque cloud cover, were in complete contrast to yesterday’s unseasonal warmth. Winds were NW to start the day but were trying to work towards NE and finally overshot the mark at ENE. Speeds hovered around the ten-mph mark with a few variations thrown in to keep it interesting. The barometer had a steep angle of climb today which always bodes well for bird counts. Raptor Observations: The turkey vultures remaining in Canada took advantage of the friendly wind to resume their mass migration today. Coming in waves and bringing friends along for the ride. We managed to count 4,658 . Red-tailed hawks were next in line with ninety-five. The red-shoulders exceeded their normal ratio to red-tails with fifty-four of them accounted for. Three bald eagles were notched. Two golden eagles made an appearance. We had the falcon hat trick but only by reason of having one of each species, kestrel, merlin and peregrine. One, very late, broad-winged hawk was conspicuous by its very small size in with the turkey vultures, this was an adult bird who must have lost its way. Three Cooper’s hawks were noted. Only one harrier was seen. Two rough-legged hawks were seen, along with our first American goshawk. Non-raptor Observations: Four American pipits were seen by an alert observer today. Otherwise, it was Crowapalooza today with thousands of crows filling the sky. At times they overlapped with turkey vulture streams making life really interesting for the counters. Occasionally, we have the days where virtual rivers of crows pass through, and today was one of those days. Lots of cormorants were seen migrating today in the morning hours. Predictions: Tomorrow may depend on what the forecast looks like in the morning. They have a habit of changing overnight. Just saying. Rain is predicted and it may shower all day,or not. Temperatures will drop another ten degrees into the forties. Winds should be mostly NE, which is good, but the barometer is dropping. It looks like an unsettled day that the birds may avoid, or they may go “Meh” and proceed through it. A lot of birds passed through today so it may be too much to ask for another big day given the unknowns about the weather. ======================================================================== 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