Detroit River Hawk Watch
Brownstown, Michigan, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 28, 2022
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Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total
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Black Vulture 0 0 0
Turkey Vulture 5305 56282 63566
Osprey 0 2 16
Bald Eagle 5 31 62
Northern Harrier 0 141 373
Sharp-shinned Hawk 11 2933 5809
Cooper's Hawk 1 40 64
Northern Goshawk 1 1 1
Red-shouldered Hawk 90 182 185
Broad-winged Hawk 0 28 67350
Swainson's Hawk 0 0 0
Red-tailed Hawk 867 1809 1990
Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0
Golden Eagle 4 13 13
American Kestrel 0 226 981
Merlin 0 43 68
Peregrine Falcon 0 38 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 0
Total: 6284 61769 140538
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Observation start time: 08:00:00
Observation end time: 16:00:00
Total observation time: 8 hours
Official Counter: Kevin Georg
Observers: Andrew Sturgess, Bill Peregord, Frank Kitakis, Mark Hainen,
Sarah deGuise
Visitors:
We are located by the boat launch in Lake Erie Metropark in a fenced off
area at the Hawk Watch site. This does not mean that we do not welcome
interaction with any and all visitors. We enjoy talking about what we do
and sharing our knowledge with beginners and experts alike. Please feel
free to come up and talk to us. We usually have our backs turned to the
parking lot as we scan the skies in front of us. This should not be
interpreted as a sign of reluctance to engage; this is how we do our job.
We have friendly people that do not bite and the welcome mat is always out.
Weather:
âI think that I shall never see a poem lovely as a tree.â Apparently,
Mr. Kilmerâs reverence for natural creations was not shared by the owners
of the property that we referred to as âthree treesâ. Over the last two
days, it has been reduced to no trees by a mechanized tree removal squad.
The contrast is stark. But I digressâ¦.Another day of relatively light,
shifting winds in which the wind turbines were just as confused as we were.
The weather app did not seem to agree with the blades of grass we tossed in
the air. The birds were constantly adjusting flight lines to adapt. The
skies did clear of the morning stratus blanket to reveal ice crystal clouds
that gave us a partial sun halo and pleasant abstract designs in the
firmament. Temps did reach fifty-seven and with the sunny end to the day it
was comfortable if dressed appropriately. The barometer peaked and started
a very slow decline, which will continue as more potential rain is on the
way early next week.
Raptor Observations:
Another bountiful day bringing in the sheaves. Although the shifting flight
lines made seeing the birds a little more difficult due to distance issues,
the birds seemed to be playing follow-the-leader so strings of turkey
vultures and buteos were flying in the same lane. Turkey vultures dominated
with 5,305 winging their way south. Red-tailed hawks came in impressive
numbers for the last six hours of the watch, kettling at times, but mostly
in line with the turkey vulture streams. We totaled 867 for the day. We
were having a slow year for this species until the last couple of days but
they are trying hard to make up for it. We always seem to have about a ten
to one ratio for red-shouldered hawks and so it was today with 90 of them
flapping hard to stay up with the red-tails. Eagles were on the move today
with 5 bald eagles and 4 golden eagles making the count. We were finally
lucky enough to see some of the goldens fairly close overhead. They usually
tease us by appearing low over the trees and then taking the stairway to
heaven up, up and away using the updraft off the tree line. Sharp-shinned
hawks kept a low profile today with only 11 making the clicker. A single
Cooperâs hawk was seen and also a solo bird, our first juvenile northern
goshawk of the season flew overhead in one of the raptor streams.
Non-raptor Observations:
A pair of sandhill cranes was noted in the distance while counting raptors.
Our kingfisher laughed maniacally as he flew in front of us. Crows were not
as plentiful today as yesterday but at times large flocks added up to
nearly ten thousand counted. The great egrets continue to crowd together in
the marsh, while great blue herons are seen more often in flight the last
couple of days.
Predictions:
Tomorrow will be sunny most of the day with temperatures reaching the high
fifties. The barometric pressure will stay above 30 inches all day, even
though it may dip towards the evening hours. The winds are the issue that
make tomorrow difficult to predict. They will be light and once again
variable. Staying well below five mph and changing through all the possible
variations of easterly, it will make flight lines and raptor visibility
difficult to predict without a definite steering force. Our fortune depends
on whether the winds are kind, as usual.
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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-2022
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