Detroit River Hawk Watch
Brownstown, Michigan, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 18, 2024
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Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total
------------------ ----------- -------------- --------------
Black Vulture 0 0 0
Turkey Vulture 73 141 141
Osprey 0 7 7
Bald Eagle 1 17 17
Northern Harrier 8 67 67
Sharp-shinned Hawk 151 737 737
Cooper's Hawk 1 8 8
American Goshawk 0 0 0
Red-shouldered Hawk 0 0 0
Broad-winged Hawk 737 3083 3083
Swainson's Hawk 0 0 0
Red-tailed Hawk 1 33 33
Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0
Golden Eagle 0 0 0
American Kestrel 50 140 140
Merlin 0 7 7
Peregrine Falcon 0 1 1
Unknown Accipiter 0 4 4
Unknown Buteo 2 8 8
Unknown Falcon 0 2 2
Unknown Eagle 0 0 0
Unknown Raptor 1 14 14
Total: 1025 4269 4269
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Observation start time: 08:00:00
Observation end time: 15:00:00
Total observation time: 7 hours
Official Counter: Michael Patrikeev
Observers: Bill Peregord, Jerry Jourdan, Jo Patterson, Mark Hainen,
Rosemary Brady
Visitors:
We welcome visitors to our site by the boat launch in Lake Erie Metro Park.
We are willing to spread the gospel with pamphlets and information cards,
along with tips on identifying the raptors, and photography tips for those
behind the cameras. Let us share our enthusiasm for this miracle of nature
with you.
Weather:
Another warm sunny day with light winds not exceeding 3 miles per hour.
According the Weather Underground website, wind directions changed every
hour, from East-North-East to South, then North-West, and then South again.
This was probably erroneous, an artifact of detecting little or no wind by
the weather station instruments. As far as we could tell from the riverbank
by watching flags on the flagpoles, the wind came from the northeast in the
morning, and changed to South in the afternoon. Temperature rose from 68 to
78 F (20-26 C). Cloud cover of ca. 20% throughout the day. The clouds were
of great assistance to the counters, as hawks passing at great heights were
more visible against the clouds.
Raptor Observations:
For the first time in September 2024, we logged more than a thousand
raptors a day. As expected, the majority were Broad-winged Hawks (737). A
kettle of fifty was seen in the morning, and then nearly six hundred made
an appearance between 2 and 3 PM EDT (13:00 to 14:00 hrs EST) swiftly
gliding over the count site, nearly non-stop. Jo should be credited for
spotting many of the streaming birds. By 3 PM the Broad-winged show was
mostly over. Sharp-shinned Hawks and American Kestrels were also seen in
good numbers today (151 and 50, respectively). Both species were more
conspicuous in the last hour of count, after the stream of Broad-winged
Hawks dried up. Turkey Vultures were also on the move (we counted 73).
Non-raptor Observations:
Large flocks of Blue Jays were on the move today (a total of 1,350 birds
were entered in the datasheet). A pair of Sandhill Cranes was welcoming
park visitors not far from the metro park entrance. Two Black-crowned
Night-Herons flew upstream as we were wrapping up for the day.
Predictions:
With no weather change in the forecast, we expect to see similar or greater
numbers of Broad-winged and Sharp-shinned hawks moving through the area. In
the last two days, higher numbers of the Broad-wings were seen after 1 PM
EDT.
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Report submitted by Erika Van Kirk ([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
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