SMRR- Lake Erie Metropark Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 15, 2006 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 9141 45010 46901 Osprey 5 23 211 Bald Eagle 10 41 156 Northern Harrier 10 181 686 Sharp-shinned Hawk 178 1484 5757 Cooper's Hawk 16 194 340 Northern Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 8 37 41 Broad-winged Hawk 0 2503 67955 Red-tailed Hawk 66 688 889 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 1 4 5 American Kestrel 6 173 1808 Merlin 0 8 35 Peregrine Falcon 1 8 37 Unknown Swainson's Hawk 0 5 8 Total: 9442 50359 124829 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 08:00:00 Observation end time: 16:15:00 Total observation time: 8.25 hours Official Counter: Jeff Schultz Observers: Calvin Brennan, Darlene Friedman, Scott Jennex Visitors: 70+ Weather: Today was a bright blue sunny day with a sparse bit of cumulous and a bit of high cirrus as a background. Certainly conditions were much more comfortable today after several straight days of strong winds although still a bit on the cool side. Winds were predominately west-southwest and light to moderate. Raptor Observations: A strong movement of vultures was recorded today, one of the largest of the season so far, very fitting for the annual Turkey Vulture picnic. Much of the early flight was overhead but there was enough of a southerly component in the wind to push the birds gradually to the north. There was a decent mix of other species overall with Bald Eagles in particular making a very good showing. There were several instances when multiple eagles were in view at once with several of the individuals soaring directly overhead much to the appreciation of the 70 or so folks partaking of the picnic. Non-raptor Observations: Several warbler species were noted in the area today including Orange-crowned, Northern Parula, Black-throated Blue and Cape May. ======================================================================== Report submitted by Calvin Brennan ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) SMRR- Lake Erie Metropark information may be found at: http://www.smrr.net/
