SMRR- Lake Erie Metropark
Brownstown, Michigan, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 24, 2007
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total
------------------ ----------- -------------- --------------
Black Vulture 0 0 0
Turkey Vulture 8571 42487 44272
Osprey 0 43 190
Bald Eagle 1 50 189
Northern Harrier 8 209 709
Sharp-shinned Hawk 100 2860 9565
Cooper's Hawk 22 261 434
Northern Goshawk 0 1 1
Red-shouldered Hawk 24 177 185
Broad-winged Hawk 0 39 69574
Red-tailed Hawk 206 808 1171
Rough-legged Hawk 1 1 1
Golden Eagle 4 7 7
American Kestrel 2 206 1268
Merlin 0 12 38
Peregrine Falcon 0 25 60
Unknown Accipiter 0 0 0
Unknown Buteo 0 0 0
Unknown Falcon 0 0 0
Unknown Eagle 0 0 0
Unknown Raptor 0 0 8
Swainson's Hawk 0 0 2
Total: 8939 47186 127674
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Observation start time: 08:00:00
Observation end time: 16:30:00
Total observation time: 8.5 hours
Official Counter: Calvin Brennan
Observers: Bruce Roberts, Jim Maki, Paul Cypher, Ron Harkness,
Terry Angevine
Visitors:
Tom Calligaro
Tex Wells
Linda Roberts
Weather:
Today saw partial clearing in the morning with a mix of sun and cloud being
the general conditions for much of the day. There were longer periods of
sunshine during the latter portions of the day. Winds were moderate and
gusty west-northwest for the better part of the day becoming more variable
later in the day varying from northwest to north-northeast.
Raptor Observations:
The flight was quite steady right from the beginning today with groups of
vultures gathering over the Canadian shoreline by the second hour of the
count. The migration would build from that point although I believe there
was a bit of a lag because of the substantial cloud cover during the
morning, particularly over Canada. As a result, the busiest bit of the day
would correspond with the sunniest portions in late afternoon. This was
true with the vultures but also the Buteos with small groups of Red-tails
being mixed in with the latter TV kettles rather than one here and one
there. The total for the day brings us over the 130,000 mark for Red-tails
counted since the count began. Some of the vulture kettles were quite
impressive during those last stages of the flight numbering in the 500 to
800 bird range with the largest single hour being from 3-4pm when 2,500
vultures were tallied. Also highlighting the day was the seasons first
Rough-legged Hawk and a total of four Golden Eagles.
Non-raptor Observations:
There was a massive movement of Crows today as well with many tens of
thousands seen with perhaps 50,000+ making the passage.
========================================================================
Report submitted by Calvin Brennan ([EMAIL PROTECTED])
SMRR- Lake Erie Metropark information may be found at:
http://www.smrr.net/
_______________________________________________
ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial
birding organization.
Send bird reports to ONTBIRDS mailing list [email protected]
For instructions to join or leave ONTBIRDS visit
http://www.ofo.ca/ontbirdshow.htm
ONTBIRDS Guidelines may be viewed at http://www.ofo.ca/ontbirdsguide.htm
