SMRR- Lake Erie Metropark Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 17, 2005 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 7 166 166 Osprey 10 136 136 Bald Eagle 6 40 40 Northern Harrier 49 202 202 Sharp-shinned Hawk 921 2414 2414 Cooper's Hawk 18 52 52 Northern Goshawk 0 1 1 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 1 1 Broad-winged Hawk 27578 31485 31485 Red-tailed Hawk 41 146 146 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 0 0 American Kestrel 232 641 641 Merlin 8 32 32 Peregrine Falcon 1 8 8 Unknown 0 0 0 Total: 28871 35324 35324 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 08:30:00 Observation end time: 17:00:00 Total observation time: 8.5 hours Official Counter: Calvin Brennan Observers: Charlene Borchers, Jeff Loughman, Jeff Schultz Visitors: There were many visitors today, probably numbering 100-125 at any given time at Point Mouillee. Weather: Drizzle and overcast conditions prevailed early in the day, putting off the count for a couple of hours. Although it did not clear wholly as the weatherman had promised, the thinning of the cloud in late morning got the hawks moving in short order. Raptor Observations: The Broad-wing kettles grew quickly once the skies brightened and except for a bit of a lull in mid-afternoon, continued steady until the end of the day. In fact the largest kettle of the entire day, some 5,400 birds, was in the second to last hour of the watch. Although the flight was not huge by this sites standard, the many that were gathered for the hawk fest celebration, I believe, thoroughly enjoyed themselves. Non-raptor Observations: Adding to the overall excitement of the day was the spotting of a Gull-billed Tern, a first state record for this species. It was initially sighted and identified by Leroy Schlabach, one of our Amish friends from Ohio. The bird remained in the area of the Point Mouillee State Game Area HQ from mid afternoon until the counters left for the day, making a number of close passes by the viewing platform as it foraged during that time. ======================================================================== Report submitted by Calvin Brennan ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) SMRR- Lake Erie Metropark information may be found at: http://www.smrr.net/
