Date: 10/8/24 5:46 pm From: <reports...> Subject: [birders] Detroit River Hawk Watch (08 Oct 2024) 1505 Raptors
Detroit River Hawk Watch
Brownstown, Michigan, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 08, 2024
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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: Ben Sehl, Don Sherwood, Jerry Jourdan, Jo Patterson,
Johannes Postma, Michelle and Bill Peregord,
Shelly Andrews
Visitors:
We cordially invite any interested visitors to come watch for raptors with
us! We are happy to answer questions and help out with identifying birds
and there are information and identification pamphlets available at the
site.
Weather:
Today was a classic fall day! High of 18 C (64 F) during the count with
almost no wind in the morning until around 1pm when the southeast winds
started to kick up a bit. The highest winds were 8 kph (5 mph). What
started as a calm and overcast day ended with sunny skies and some moderate
winds.
Raptor Observations:
The morning was not just calm out on the river and in the lake. In the
first two hours we saw only 7 migrating sharp-shinned hawks. A slow ramp up
in volume and diversity throughout the day yielded a grand total of 1505
birds. The turkey vultures were the most numerous at 1380, flying in
kettles mainly low over the trees and a long way off. At times, there was a
steady flow of sharp-shinned hawks overhead giving us a total of 85. The
rest of the birds included bald eagles, northern harriers, peregrine
falcons, kestrels, red-tailed hawks, cooper’s hawks and a single
red-shouldered hawk. These all came in lower numbers but provided welcome
diversity to the skies.
Non-raptor Observations:
After our season high day yesterday with a Swainson’s hawk sighting,
hopes were high and the volunteer cast came out in force. The full crew of
bird spotters provided good company, merriment and a strong showing of
teamwork to spot those raptors! Blue-jays filled the void the raptors left
in the morning and the majority of the 2,415 of the day came in the first
few hours. Our local water birds were notably absent in the calm of the
morning, but the terns, gulls and duck came back around for the afternoon.
We have thoroughly enjoyed watching ring-billed gulls chase the terns that
dive successfully and come up with a fish. The group of yellow-rumped
warblers visited the maple above our picnic tables once again today, what a
treat!
Predictions:
Tomorrow’s weather looks similar to todays although with some more
sustained and earlier wind from the northwest. We are hoping for more big
turkey vulture kettles and continued increases in the numbers of red-tailed
and red-shouldered hawks.
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Report submitted by Erika Van Kirk (<erika_vankirk...>)
Detroit River Hawk Watch information may be found at:
http://www.detroitriverhawkwatch.org
