Detroit River Hawk Watch Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 08, 2024 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 0 6 6 Osprey 0 0 0 Bald Eagle 0 1 1 Northern Harrier 0 10 10 Sharp-shinned Hawk 15 46 46 Cooper's Hawk 0 4 4 American Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0 Broad-winged Hawk 7 238 238 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 0 Red-tailed Hawk 3 18 18 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 0 0 American Kestrel 1 18 18 Merlin 1 2 2 Peregrine Falcon 0 1 1 Unknown Accipiter 0 2 2 Unknown Buteo 0 3 3 Unknown Falcon 0 0 0 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 0 1 1 Total: 27 350 350 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 08:00:00 Observation end time: 15:00:00 Total observation time: 7 hours Official Counter: Michael Patrikeev Observers: Andrew Sturgess, Bill and Michelle Peregord, Don Sherwood, Jo Patterson 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: Another sunny start to the day with temperatures near fifty degrees. Winds were coming from a mostly west direction with slight variations north and south of true west. Moderate in strength, just above the five-mph line, until the afternoon hours when a very sudden spike jumped up to the fourteen-mph range and the wind turned northwest. The barometer held for the morning hours, a tenth above thirty inches. It started to decline around midday, although the drop was statistically insignificant. Cumulus clouds, the wooly sheep of the cloud family, started to gather, although the cloud cover percentage remained low. The clouds were helpful as markers in the sky, although the raptor traffic was light. The temperature had climbed during the day and did reach seventy degrees so it was a pleasant day to mark our first week of counting. We have not had the best of first weeks, but in retrospect, we have had much worse ones when hot summer days ran over into September and the birds were non-existent. Raptor Observations: We did get five species today; except for the lack of a peregrine, we could have had a falcon hat-trick. The sharpies are becoming more common, it should really start to pick up in a week or so, but we had fifteen today. Broadwings drifted into our area, but not in numbers yet, seven were observed today. We also counted three red-tailed hawks today, although our local one continues to soar around. If the wind is strong enough, it kites over one spot looking for prey. The falcons did not test the durability of the clickers today with only one merlin and one kestrel, better than zero, but only by the minimum necessary to exceed that number. We continue to see a lot of eagle activity but it’s the same birds everyday and they are so far, non-migratory. Non-raptor Observations: The swallows were acting as flak today as they made it difficult for people to find small raptors flying behind them. They are still a mixed flock with martins, swifts and various swallows. This will thin to mostly tree swallows eventually. We seem to be getting more duck fly-bys. Mostly mallards, but wood ducks can be seen at times. The cormorants and pelicans were watching the NFL games today as they did not make an appearance in numbers. I’m sure they were terrorizing bait fish elsewhere in the river system. Cedar waxwings are still active but have moved the base of operations from the nearby trees to others further away. Pied-billed grebes are still working the slip in front of us. Predictions: A rising west-southwest wind should bring warmer temperatures tomorrow, seventy-seven degrees is predicted. Wind strength will start around ten mph and increase to fourteen during the watch hours. We are getting used to being in a wind tunnel by now. The barometer is predicted to drop a tenth before rebounding at watch’s end. It should be mostly sunny. The forecast resembles today’s, in some respects, with rising winds from almost the same direction. Not the best direction for wind, or strength of wind, so unless the sharpies manage to fight through, we may have the same meager results. ======================================================================== 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