Detroit River Hawk Watch Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 17, 2023 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 29796 63725 65858 Osprey 0 2 53 Bald Eagle 2 18 90 Northern Harrier 11 82 437 Sharp-shinned Hawk 471 1903 5660 Cooper's Hawk 7 28 39 American Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 75 99 99 Broad-winged Hawk 36 99 107681 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 0 Red-tailed Hawk 152 314 400 Rough-legged Hawk 0 1 1 Golden Eagle 0 0 0 American Kestrel 7 261 1246 Merlin 0 5 36 Peregrine Falcon 0 17 37 Unknown Accipiter 0 0 0 Unknown Buteo 0 0 1 Unknown Falcon 0 0 1 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 0 0 0 Total: 30557 66554 181639 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 08:00:00 Observation end time: 15:00:00 Total observation time: 7 hours Official Counter: Kevin Georg Observers: Andrew Sturgess, Don Sherwood, Jackie Quinones, Mark Hainen 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 a day that put the capital O in OMG. Thankfully, the actual weather bore little resemblance to the forecast. The sun never showed, and the winds stayed NW, or WNW, all day with no turn to the SW as predicted. This kept the birds in our wheelhouse all day long. Winds were moderate in strength, another factor in our favor, staying just above five mph for the duration. Temperatures reached the low fifties and with the complete cloud cover it was a drab looking day. The barometer had managed to break the thirty-inch barrier during the night and stayed a few hundredths above it during the watch hours. Somehow, this combination of factors produced magic. Raptor Observations: “If you refuse to let them go, I will bring locusts into your country tomorrow. They will cover the face of the earth so that it cannot be seen.” We had our own Exodus moment today during one extraordinary hour in which the turkey vultures were indeed as thick as a swarm of locusts. None of the veterans at the watch had ever seen such density in the stream of birds in front of us. These numbers are usually more common at Vera Cruz, or Panama, than in our little tributary that feeds the river of migrating birds. Perhaps the recent rains had caused a backup where all the birds accumulated while they waited for better conditions. Whatever the cause, we had a spectacular day with 29,796 turkey vultures, with most passing in one very busy hour. They did keep coming later in the day and dragged some friends along with them. The sharpies are still hell-bent for leather to head south and 471 of them flew though today. They enjoyed a much smoother passage than recent days on the lighter winds. Red-tailed hawks came in third with 152 birds counted, kettling at times with the red-shouldered hawks that sent seventy-five representatives. There are still some broad-wings out there with thirty-six being counted today. When they are flying with the larger buteos at this time of year, their smaller size draws attention. Northern harriers buoyantly flew by eleven times. Cooper’s hawks were also moving today with seven counted. We can’t seem to buy any kestrels lately as only seven of them turned up. Two bald eagles were also tallied today. Non-raptor Observations: We didn’t see the little gull today but didn’t really have time to look for it. The flock of ducks out on Lake Erie seems to be growing larger as they occasionally take to the sky. Our great egrets were back in force in the marsh today. The Caspian tern, common terns and Forster’s terns are still present and active. A Carolina wren continues to serenade us. We are in the overlap season between blue jay and crow migrations. Both were seen today, more of the former than the latter. Red-winged blackbirds are also seen more frequently in small migrating flocks. Predictions: It looks like the forecasted winds from the SW may actually happen tomorrow. Temperatures will naturally rise on the back of this wind, reaching the sixty-degree mark. The wind strength will be climbing during the day and this may end our party since that tends to move the birds up to Elizabeth Park in Trenton, or even further north. The barometer should fall in the afternoon hours as there is a possibility of rain on Thursday and Friday. Skies will be mostly cloudy during the watch. The next three days have fairly strong SW winds, our least favorite. They should climb to ten mph tomorrow and even higher on Thursday. Not good. With the relatively lighter winds tomorrow in the morning perhaps the sharpies will continue to fight their way south but I suspect the larger birds may be off to the north. ======================================================================== 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