DRHW- Lake Erie Metropark
Brownstown, Michigan, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 28, 2011
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total
------------------ ----------- -------------- --------------
Black Vulture 0 0 0
Turkey Vulture 10268 49127 49644
Osprey 0 16 85
Bald Eagle 3 78 175
Northern Harrier 11 116 218
Sharp-shinned Hawk 48 2766 5177
Cooper's Hawk 40 533 632
Northern Goshawk 2 7 7
Red-shouldered Hawk 46 103 105
Broad-winged Hawk 0 642 195858
Swainson's Hawk 0 0 5
Red-tailed Hawk 681 1185 1263
Rough-legged Hawk 2 7 7
Golden Eagle 31 54 54
American Kestrel 3 255 659
Merlin 0 8 19
Peregrine Falcon 0 5 18
Unknown Accipiter 4 40 54
Unknown Buteo 11 30 30
Unknown Falcon 0 0 2
Unknown Eagle 0 2 2
Unknown Raptor 6 18 22
Total: 11156 54992 254036
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Observation start time: 08:15:00
Observation end time: 16:00:00
Total observation time: 7.75 hours
Official Counter: Jonathan Stein
Observers: Andrew Sturgess, Frank Kitakis, Fred Kirn, John Elliott,
Patrick Mulawa, Rodney Laura
Visitors:
A great, great group of visitors today. Andy Dettling, Tom Schlack and
David Boon were around in the morning. Rick Nirschl spent most of the day
at the watch and was a huge help. Also in attendance were Phil Bugosh,
Michelle Tremmel, Karen Morris, Dawn Kaiser, Linda Kaiser and Joe Csotty
among others. A special thank you to Fred Kirn for handling recording
duties so admirably on such a busy day. Last but not least, thanks so much
to all the dedicated regulars for your invaluable spotting assistance and
for making this day so enjoyable.
Weather:
It was cool and clear at the start with only a handful of clouds in the
sky. The morning fog, which was a hindrance early, burned off relatively
quickly, leaving us with good visibility and advantageous lighting for the
majority of the day. The winds were light and variable throughout.
Raptor Observations:
So, um, where to begin? Probably best to start at the very beginning, which
featured spectacular early looks at back-to-back-to-back juvenile golden
eagle gliding out no more than 150 feet overhead. Then, how about we skip
to day's end, when four very large, very black birds were sighted circling
high up more than a mile out. They began to make their way toward us
ever-so-slowly, eventually revealing themselves to be yet another four
golden eagles! An incredible way to end an incredible day. In between those
seven eagles, we just so happened to see another 24, more than 10,000
turkey vultures, 681 red-tailed hawks, 46 red-shouldered hawks, another
close-in northern goshawk and matching rough-legged hawks, a dark morph and
later a light morph.
Non-raptor Observations:
With so many raptors in the sky, it was difficult to focus on much else.
American crows were again abundant as were red-winged blackbirds. Other
than that, not much else comes to mind.
Predictions:
It's going to be mostly cloudy with scattered showers (40 percent chance of
precipitation). Winds should again be light and variable, possibly shifting
southwest later on. Hopefully the rain misses us and we have another
awesome day. There's bound to be a few more birds ready to move.
========================================================================
Report submitted by Jonathan Stein (jonathanjst...@gmail.com)
SMRR- Lake Erie Metropark information may be found at:
http://www.drhawkwatch.org
Site Description:
The primary site used by the Detroit River Hawk Watch (a joint venture of
the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge and it's Friends group, the
International Wildlife Refuge Alliance) is the Boat Launch at Lake Erie
Metropark located approximately 20 miles south of Detroit, Michigan. A
secondary site, the Headquarters of Pointe Mouillee State Game Area is used
during certain wind conditions. When staffing is available, both sites can
be used at the same time. The season begins on the first day of September
and concludes on the final day of November. For details and directions, log
on to www.drhawkwatch.org
Directions to site:
Lake Erie Metropark:
>From I-75, exit at Huron River Drive (exit 27). Continue east on Huron
River Drive. Turn left on West Jefferson and proceed a few hundred yards to
the entrance of Lake Erie Metropark. After paying the entrance fee, follow
the signs to the Boat Launch.
_______________________________________________
ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial
birding organization.
Send bird reports to birdalert@ontbirds.ca
For information about ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/
