Detroit River Hawk Watch Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 10, 2024 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 5889 18582 19515 Osprey 0 1 17 Bald Eagle 3 40 73 Northern Harrier 4 67 250 Sharp-shinned Hawk 26 560 2697 Cooper's Hawk 0 12 51 American Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 4 13 13 Broad-winged Hawk 2 31 6779 Swainson's Hawk 0 1 1 Red-tailed Hawk 24 151 206 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 0 0 American Kestrel 7 84 363 Merlin 0 6 20 Peregrine Falcon 0 13 21 Unknown Accipiter 0 4 9 Unknown Buteo 0 6 19 Unknown Falcon 0 3 11 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 0 5 27 Total: 5959 19579 30072 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 08:00:00 Observation end time: 16:00:00 Total observation time: 8 hours Official Counter: Andrew Sturgess Observers: Bill Peregord, Don Sherwood, Frank Kitakis, Jo Patterson, Rosemary Brady Visitors: We welcome visitors to our site by the boat launch in Lake Erie MetroPark. We are willing to spread the gospel with pamphlets and information cards, along with tips on IDing the raptors, and photography tips for those behind the cameras. Let us share our enthusiasm for this miracle of nature with you. Weather: Whenever the subject of the ug…er, least attractive bird comes up, the turkey vulture is always on the short list of candidates. Some say they have an unfair advantage due to the caruncles on their faces that show up as psoriasis-like patches on the heads of the southeastern and midwestern birds: a face only another turkey vulture could love is a common consensus. All of these denigrations fall by the wayside when the bird is seen flying in long streams, resembling bomber formations, as was the case today. Words like majestic, regal, stately, and even cool, describe the procession as the birds effortlessly glide overhead in congregations that never seem to end. A crisp but sunny start to the day gave us a preview of the day to come. Clear blue skies persisted, although a few small cumulus clouds made an attempt to populate the sky, only to fade away. Winds were favorable most of the day, starting in the north, working to the northeast as it increased in strength, but turning south in the overtime period and pushing the flight line more to the north as a result. The strength ebbed and flowed, starting at three mph and climbing to eight by day’s end. The temperature climbed to just over the sixty-degree mark, which could be comfortable, or not, depending on the amount wind off the lake, or the amount of shade, or sunlight, your seat was in. The clear sky told you the barometer was high, staying around the thirty and a quarter inch mark. Raptor Observations: We started off with our traditional zero birds in the first hour, the winds being insufficient to provide lift. Turkey vultures started to fly in the second hour but saved the show-stopper for the final two hours of the watch with impressive streams of over 1600 birds each hour. We ended with a total of five thousand, eight hundred, and eighty-nine. This is their month to shine and they nearly surpassed the September broad-winged count in one day. Their presence must have dispirited the other migrants as they did not put up much of a fight today. Sharpies took the silver with a disappointing twenty-six birds. Red-tailed hawks, a lot of them gliding in the turkey vulture streams, were barely behind with twenty-four birds. Kestrels made occasional appearances with seven being counted. Red-shouldered hawks and harriers tied with four birds apiece. Three bald eagles were hitching a ride with the TV’s up high where the winds were a little stronger. Two tardy broad-wings were also noted. Non-raptor Observations: The pelicans were out today for a brief while, numbering about eighty birds in all. I didn’t see any terns today, however gulls were up hawking insects in big numbers. Flickers made plenty of noise today. The egrets are still gathered in the marsh on the drive into the park. Blue jays were seen in fairly low numbers, less than seven hundred, but were often off to the north and barely visible. Lots of cormorants seemed to be migrating, flying in vees over the site. A pied-billed grebe was noted. Most of the vegetation they usually dive under has died off by now. We were pleased to note that the replacement of the steel seawall in front of Gray House has neared completion as we had to listen to a pile driver rattling away for hours today. Predictions: Tomorrow a strengthening southwest wind may change our fortune. Southern winds bring hotter air so the temperature will be hotter by about thirteen degrees, reaching the mid-seventies. The barometer will start to fall during the watch, a sign that rain may be in the forecast for Saturday and Sunday. The wind strength will climb from eight to thirteen mph and stay southwest all day. Cloud cover should increase. This wind is the opposite of our favored NE wind and may push the birds too far to the north to repeat today’s good luck. ======================================================================== 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