Detroit River Hawk Watch Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 28, 2024 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 1572 60090 61023 Osprey 0 2 18 Bald Eagle 0 101 134 Northern Harrier 2 135 318 Sharp-shinned Hawk 5 1247 3384 Cooper's Hawk 0 36 75 American Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 11 166 166 Broad-winged Hawk 0 37 6785 Swainson's Hawk 0 1 1 Red-tailed Hawk 106 854 909 Rough-legged Hawk 0 14 14 Golden Eagle 3 42 42 American Kestrel 0 120 399 Merlin 0 9 23 Peregrine Falcon 0 19 27 Unknown Accipiter 0 10 15 Unknown Buteo 1 16 29 Unknown Falcon 0 5 13 Unknown Eagle 0 2 2 Unknown Raptor 1 6 28 Total: 1701 62912 73405 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 08:00:00 Observation end time: 15:00:00 Total observation time: 7 hours Official Counter: Michael Patrikeev Observers: Ben Sehl, Frank Kitakis, Jerry Jourdan Visitors: We welcome visitors to our site by the boat launch in Lake Erie Metropark. We have brochures and educational information we are happy to share. Let us share our enthusiasm for migration and raptors with you! While we welcome your questions and company, please know that our professional counter, apprentices, and volunteers must communicate with each other frequently to successfully conduct the count, and they also must maintain an unobstructed view of the horizon. Weather: Sun and cloud; light southerly winds of up to 14 km/hour (8.5 mi/hr). Temperature rose to +14C (57F) by late afternoon. Raptor Observations: We counted 1,701 raptors today, and 92% of those were ...? You guessed right, Turkey Vultures! Two-thirds migrated between noon and 2 PM. The vultures brought other species with them, including 106 Red-tails and eleven Red-shouldered Hawks. Five of the latter were in a single streaming groups of TVs. Three Golden Eagles were sighted today, compliments of Jerry and Ben. Ben's bird approached as close as the sycamore! Without doubt, it was that last-hour Golden Eagle ordered by Bill and Michelle yesterday, but delivered with one day delay) Non-raptor Observations: American Crows (782), Blue Jays (5), White Pelicans (>60) Predictions: Light rain overnight. Tomorrow, southern wind will bring hot air from the south, driving air temperatures up to +25C (77F) in the afternoon! We suspect that southerly winds and summer temperatures will slow raptor migration. Although... who knows? Our predictions of hawk migration do not always came true! ======================================================================== Report submitted by Erika Van Kirk (erika_vankirk@fws.gov) 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