Detroit River Hawk Watch
Brownstown, Michigan, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 04, 2019
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Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total
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Black Vulture 0 0 0
Turkey Vulture 7445 8182 8673
Osprey 0 2 32
Bald Eagle 0 1 52
Northern Harrier 7 18 192
Sharp-shinned Hawk 84 469 2547
Cooper's Hawk 5 6 17
Northern Goshawk 0 0 0
Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0
Broad-winged Hawk 193 322 64120
Swainson's Hawk 0 0 0
Red-tailed Hawk 12 15 130
Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0
Golden Eagle 0 0 0
American Kestrel 11 54 627
Merlin 0 1 17
Peregrine Falcon 3 6 21
Unknown Accipiter 0 0 0
Unknown Buteo 0 0 1
Unknown Falcon 0 0 0
Unknown Eagle 0 0 0
Unknown Raptor 0 0 0
Total: 7760 9076 76429
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Observation start time: 08:00:00
Observation end time: 15:00:00
Total observation time: 7 hours
Official Counter: Kevin Georg
Observers: Andrew Sturgess, Don Sherwood, John Elliot, Mark Hainan,
Mark Hainen, Rosemary Brady
Visitors:
We did have some hardy souls visit us today but their resolve was tested by
the persistent winds and no one saw the full day out.
Weather:
A sky to inspire poets at start of day. Sunlit cotton balls spread around
the blue sky. "I wandered lonely as a cloud" (WW) But these clouds were not
wandering, they were driven by a strong cold wind with a northern element
all day long. By day's end we had a solid steel gray ceiling and all
thoughts of daffodils were gone. The barometer had jumped nearly four
tenths overnight and with that kind of pressure gradient comes high winds.
Quite a change from our record tying temp of 88 on Monday, we only managed
the 50's today.
Raptor Observations:
The winds and barometer indicated that birds would be moving today and so
they were. The winds were so strong that we may have lost some birds over
the lake as they were pushed south of us. We counted over 7400 turkey
vultures, 113 Broad-wings, 84 sharp-shins, 12 red-tailed hawks, 11
kestrels, 7 harriers, 5 Cooper's hawks and 3 peregrines. Not the best
flight lines for us today so we had to work for those birds.
Non-raptor Observations:
Over 9500 blue jays were anxious to leave Canada today with the taste of
what's to come in terms of weather inspiring them.
Predictions:
Rain is in the forecast for tomorrow night as I write. Preceding this will
be a significant drop in the barometer during the day and the wind will
take a more easterly direction headed around to SE. Temps will still be in
the 50's. Not the best conditions for movement but the "I don't care
birds": sharpies, kestrels and harriers may still be moving.
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Report submitted by Jerry Jourdan (jerry.jour...@gmail.com)
Detroit River Hawk Watch information may be found at:
http://www.detroitriverhawkwatch.org
More site information at hawkcount.org:
http://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-2019
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