Detroit River Hawk Watch Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 05, 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 4 4 4 Sharp-shinned Hawk 2 10 10 Cooper's Hawk 0 0 0 American Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0 Broad-winged Hawk 0 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 1 8 8 Merlin 0 4 4 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: 7 43 43 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 08:00:00 Observation end time: 15:00:00 Total observation time: 7 hours Official Counter: Kevin Georg Observers: Andrew Sturgess, Mark Hainen 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. Thank you. Weather: Another diem horribilis on paper, with real-feels in the mid-nineties, even though the actual temperature was just above the mid-eighties. The disparity caused by very high humidity that stayed above seventy-percent for the duration of our stay. We hunkered down in the shade of the maple tree to endure another day of many discomforts and few avian travelers. Fortunately, a shift in the southern winds just easterly enough to provide a cooling breeze off the lake made our day more bearable and increased our fortunes in counting birds. Our fortune was already high as we had an unusual visitor today in the form of a juvenile long-tailed jaeger. Jaegers are aggressive towards terns and gulls and this behavior drew our attention. In a great stroke of luck, the bird flew just where the photographers would have directed it to go, had we the choice. This occurred just before noon and it was the only bird of consequence that we had seen during the first half of the day. Later, after the wind shift, we started to see a few more raptors. Thunderstorms have been mentioned in the forecast and although we saw many towering cumulus clouds, mostly to the west of us, nothing seemed to threaten the sauna-like atmosphere that hung like a warm, wet blanket around us. The barometer was falling, losing a tenth during the day. It should continue to fall for a couple of days before rebounding on Friday. Raptor Observations: The skies were relatively quiet again this morning with even the locals taking a break from the heat. We did see the bald eagle with the bad leg again. Although have seen a fair number of accipiters over the years with a hanging appendage, I don’t remember seeing an eagle in this condition. The wind shift to a slightly more easterly direction did seem to help us, bringing a few of the birds that are usually not as wind dependent as the buteos. We finally had some harriers to count and they led the way today with four of them, including one gray ghost. A mere two sharpies flew through and one American kestrel rounded out the count. Not enough to register on the seismic scale but after days of only two birds, it felt like we had turned a corner. Percentage wise, quite an impressive improvement, numerically…meh. Non-raptor Observations: Long-tailed jaeger! That just above covers the “other observations” which were light to begin with. We did see a pair of blue-winged teal fly by as a slight diversion from the usual mallards. Our cedar waxwings are still active but the warblers were not as obvious today, having perhaps moved on. The bulk of the cormorants are still not in their usual place but they must be lurking nearby. I was once again attacked by the biting flies that seem to be present on hot days but I may have finally found a repellent that is not to their taste. It occurred to me that the old chigger repellent that we used to use in Texas, powered sulfur, might work. I last used it in Panama where it was put into a sock and applied to the ankles. I used a liberal application and it seemed to work, although yellow legs may draw some attention from concerned bystanders. Predictions: The forecast seems to have eased off the pedal a little as far as thunderstorms and rain are concerned. Thankfully, relief from the heat is imminent as the temperatures will decline for the next week with real-feels and actual temps tracking each other and closer to the seventy-degree mark that to ninety. Bring it on! There may be some rain tomorrow as the barometer will bottom out before rebounding as a new high-pressure system moves in bringing northern winds and cool Canadian air. Tomorrow will have the last blast of southern winds, reaching double digits in strength but the resulting warm air should only reach the lower eighties. Still not a promising day for our site as far as migrants go, but it will start the change that may lead to better results for the area. ======================================================================== 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