Detroit River Hawk Watch
Brownstown, Michigan, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 21, 2021
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Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total
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Black Vulture 0 0 0
Turkey Vulture 0 60 60
Osprey 0 16 16
Bald Eagle 0 24 24
Northern Harrier 0 97 97
Sharp-shinned Hawk 1 1218 1218
Cooper's Hawk 0 5 5
Northern Goshawk 0 0 0
Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0
Broad-winged Hawk 0 17028 17028
Swainson's Hawk 0 0 0
Red-tailed Hawk 0 34 34
Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0
Golden Eagle 0 0 0
American Kestrel 0 421 421
Merlin 1 7 7
Peregrine Falcon 0 11 11
Unknown Accipiter 0 0 0
Unknown Buteo 0 1 1
Unknown Falcon 0 0 0
Unknown Eagle 0 0 0
Unknown Raptor 0 0 0
Total: 2 18922 18922
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Observation start time: 08:00:00
Observation end time: 12:00:00
Total observation time: 4 hours
Official Counter: Kevin Georg
Observers: Andrew Sturgess, Erika Van Kirk, Shourjya Majumder
Visitors:
We are still dealing with the residue of the Covid 19 situation. The
workers at the site will be in an enclosed area that is designed for four
people only. We still love to interact and share our love of hawk watching
with visitors. Feel free to ask questions and look over our shoulders to
help you follow the birds. Watch the weather for favorable forecasts as the
birds are predictable to some degree based on weather situations.
One other thing of note this year; the boat-launch bathroom building has
been shut down for the foreseeable future due to plumbing issues. There are
Porta-Johns in the parking lot should you require them.
Weather:
âIt was a dark and stormy night---except at occasional intervalsâ. (E.
B-L) One of the intervals was this morning and although we managed to sit
through it, we were not rewarded with any quantity of migrants. We were
chased off by rain showers after one hour in the afternoon and it seemed
futile to resume. Winds were over twenty mph at the time from the south.
The barometer was still hanging in there around thirty inches but a drop is
coming with the predicted rain. I donât really see a large amount on the
radar yet but flood warnings are being issued for the area so itâs time
to move to higher ground.
Raptor Observations:
We had only two birds today. A lone sharp-shin was seen struggling in the
wind out by the stacks. The other bird was a merlin that popped out of
nowhere and proceeded to do their normal thing of chasing another bird with
bad intentions. We think the intended target was a swallow and for a few
moments they engaged in an aerial dogfight of high G twists and turns with
accompanying oohs and aahs from the watchers. The swallow was motivated,
and despite the merlinâs best efforts, he lived to see another day. Our
other moment of interest was watching one of our local subadult bald eagles
pluck a fish from the water. Usually, an eagle will tuck its catch under
its tail, at times making it difficult to see whether they actually got
something. This time it was obvious that it had retrieved the fish as it
was fairly large and it looked more like an osprey carrying its prey.
Pictures revealed that it was a northern pike. The gulls took an interest
and followed the eagle but thought better of actually engaging in combat.
Non-raptor Observations:
It was a quiet day on the non-raptor front today. The high winds seemed to
keep most things staying close to home. The cormorants were out in numbers
again seeking to eat every fish in the lake with their insatiable
appetites. Our family of growing mallard ducklings spent their time
chasing water bugs today bringing smiles to our faces as they sprinted
after them.
Predictions:
Tomorrow looks like a complete rainout. A system is supposed to stall over
us dumping a lot of rain. Whether the predicted amounts arrive or not, it
seems unlikely that raptors will be on the move. The winds will be from the
north at substantial speeds near twenty mph all day. This would shove any
birds out over the lake beyond our sight if they were to move. This system
may carry over into Wednesday too.
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Report submitted by Andrew Sturgess ([email protected])
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
Count data submitted via Dunkadoo - Project info at:
https://dunkadoo.org/explore/detroit-river-international-wildlife-refuge/detroit-river-hawk-watch-fall-2021
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