Detroit River Hawk Watch Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 11, 2024 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 1890 20472 21405 Osprey 1 2 18 Bald Eagle 2 42 75 Northern Harrier 7 74 257 Sharp-shinned Hawk 110 670 2807 Cooper's Hawk 0 12 51 American Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 13 13 Broad-winged Hawk 0 31 6779 Swainson's Hawk 0 1 1 Red-tailed Hawk 5 156 211 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 0 0 American Kestrel 7 91 370 Merlin 2 8 22 Peregrine Falcon 0 13 21 Unknown Accipiter 0 4 9 Unknown Buteo 0 6 19 Unknown Falcon 0 3 11 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 0 5 27 Total: 2024 21603 32096 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 08:00:00 Observation end time: 15:00:00 Total observation time: 7 hours Official Counter: Michael Patrikeev Observers: Jo Patterson, Rosemary Brady Visitors: We welcome visitors to our site by the boat launch in Lake Erie Metro Park. We are willing to spread the word with pamphlets and information cards, along with tips on raptors identification. Let us share our enthusiasm for this miracle of nature with you. Weather: Light winds, mainly from the south. Temperature rose to the comfortable +24C (75F) in the afternoon, a reminder that calm balmy days will not last much longer. Raptor Observations: Today, our raptor count equaled ... 2024! Was it a numerological message sent to us? Remains to be decoded) Although 2024 is a decent number, it did not come even close to yesterday's total of 5959. Turkey Vultures accounted for 1890 of today's count. We checked Wikipedia, looking for some hidden meaning, and found out that "In 1890, Benjamin Harry Warren, an ornithologist from Pennsylvania, published a colored lithograph of a turkey vulture and a Cooper's hawk"! The majority of vultures were streamed though over "The Stacks" between 11 AM and 2 PM, in large and small groups. We also counted a 110 Sharp-shinned Hawks, but the number of all other species were in single digits. Non-raptor Observations: A very slow day for Blue Jays; only 205 were counted. Forster's Terns were sighted again, though they remained downstream from the count site. Predictions: We expect cooler temperatures and easterly winds tomorrow, i.e, conditions favorable for migrating hawks and vultures at this site. Perhaps, there is another aerial spectacle in store for us! ======================================================================== 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 -- Ontbirds and Birdnews are moderated email Listservs provided by the Ontario Field Ornithologists (OFO) as a service to all birders in Ontario. Birdnews is reserved for announcements, location summaries, first of year reports, etc. To post a message on Birdnews, send an email to: [email protected]. If you have any questions or concerns, contact the Birdnews Moderators by email at [email protected]. Please review posting rules and guidelines at http://ofo.ca/site/content/listserv-guidelines To find out more about OFO, please visit our website at ofo.ca or Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/OntarioFieldOrnithologists.
