Detroit River Hawk Watch Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 21, 2025 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 1075 62955 65036 Osprey 0 0 28 Bald Eagle 0 38 135 Northern Harrier 4 88 451 Sharp-shinned Hawk 35 777 3800 Cooper's Hawk 1 33 60 American Goshawk 0 1 1 Red-shouldered Hawk 2 81 81 Broad-winged Hawk 0 47 51921 Swainson's Hawk 0 1 1 Red-tailed Hawk 3 416 562 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 16 18 American Kestrel 0 40 963 Merlin 1 10 43 Peregrine Falcon 0 12 42 Unknown Accipitrine 0 0 1 Unknown Buteo 0 1 3 Unknown Falcon 0 0 3 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 0 6 9 Total: 1121 64522 123158 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 08:00:00 Observation end time: 15:00:00 Total observation time: 7 hours Official Counter: Jo Patterson Observers: Andrew Sturgess, Mark Hainen Visitors: We welcome visitors to our site as we are eager to share the joys of hawk watching with one and all. Although there may be times in which we are all very busy and need alone-time to concentrate, those are the times that are most enjoyable for visitors as the skies are filled with migrating raptors. Weather: On either end of a day that looked pleasant enough, unless you were outside in it, we had bookends of heavy bands of rain at 0400 and 1600. The latter with severe thunder storm warnings. The cards were stacked against us today, with low pressure, a stout wind that started at thirteen mph, and spiked at thirty as the storm approached, and finally the direction of the wind for most of the day was south-southwest. This tends to alter the flight lines to who knows where, as we donât see most of them. The day looked like a sunny fall day with a flotilla of white cumulus clouds scudding by, driven by an irresistible wind, resembling the start of the Heineken Regatta in St. Maarten. They soon left a bright blue sky littered with small white fragments of genoas and spinnakers that had succumbed to the wind. Although the wind never subsided, we were sheltered to some degree by the windbreak behind us. The sixty-two- degree temperature made it a more comfortable day than we had expected. The barometer has fallen into the 29.6â range and that will last through tomorrow. Raptor Observations: Turkey vultures saved the day of course. They seem to take pleasure in rough gusty winds that at times nearly turn them over. We counted one thousand, and seventy-five today. For such adverse conditions, this exceeded our expectations. The sharpies came in second with thirty-five of them getting buffeted by the wind. The gusty conditions bring them close to us as they try to stay below the wind, but photographing them is a serious challenge as they bounce up and down out of the frame. Northern harriers took the bronze with four birds, one a gray ghost. They often fly just above the water to avoid the turbulence; we did see some sharpies doing the same thing today. Red-tails finished just off the podium with three birds, red-shoulders had two. A single Cooperâs hawk was counted, and one feisty merlin was looking a meal, chasing a blackbird. Non-raptor Observations: The pelicans were not quite as active today, but had their moments. We think several hundred are staying nearby. A Bonaparteâs gull and a common tern sought some shelter in the slip today, but it was only a brief visit. Red-winged blackbirds were starting to move today with several small flocks undulating by. The blue jays took the day off to celebrate their namesakeâs advancement to the World Series, apparently, they took the crows with them. Four super monarchs made it past the site in tough winds. (Please excuse my cut and paste faux pas in yesterdayâs report if you received a flawed copy.) Predictions: The saving grace tomorrow is that the rain may help us to avoid a cruel fate. A starting temperature of forty-six, only predicted to rise to near fifty degrees, with southwest winds starting at thirteen mph and rising to nineteen mph, whatâs not to like? Full clouds should be the order of the day with the potential for showers to delay the start of the watch. The pressure will remain low until Thursday. Not a recipe for success, but the vultures must move, whether we will see them is the issue. ======================================================================== 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 -- Ontbirds and Birdnews are moderated email Listservs provided by the Ontario Field Ornithologists (OFO) as a service to all birders in Ontario. 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