Date: 10/15/24 8:06 pm From: <reports...> Subject: [birders] Detroit River Hawk Watch (15 Oct 2024) 8720 Raptors
Detroit River Hawk Watch
Brownstown, Michigan, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 15, 2024
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Observation start time: 08:15:00
Observation end time: 16:00:00
Total observation time: 7.75 hours
Official Counter: Michael Patrikeev
Observers: Ben Sehl, Bill and Michelle Peregord, Don Sherwood,
Jo Patterson, Johannes Postma
Visitors:
We welcome visitors to our site by the boat launch in Lake Erie Metropark.
If you plan to visit us from October 14th - 17th, please note the count
site is only accessible by foot! The road and trail leading to the count
site will be closed just past the Marshlands Museum. Please park at the
museum, walk along the bike path, and take the second left on the Cherry
Island trail. This trail will lead you around to the count site. It is
comprised of pavement, boardwalk, and gravel and is about a .75 mile walk.
This closure is due to extensive tree work happening along the roadway. The
maintenance is scheduled to end October 17th, with road and parking access
restored the 18th. We will provide an update here if the schedule changes.
We have brochures and educational information we are happy to share. Let us
share our enthusiasm for migration and raptors with you! While we welcome
your questions and company, please know our professional counter,
apprentices, and volunteers must communicate with each other frequently to
successfully conduct the count and they also must maintain an unobstructed
view of the horizon.
Weather:
Today was blustery, with winds as high as 31 kph blowing from the north. It
was a cold one, a high of 11 C during the watch. It was overcast all
morning and started to clear up just a little bit into the afternoon.
Raptor Observations:
The turkey vultures were numerous and provided the constant background
radiation of the day. We saw them rising up in kettles over Canada in the
distance and streaming past us at any given moment throughout the day. We
ended the day after counting 8456. The afternoon brought more diversity
with most of our 137 red-tailed hawks, 42 red-shouldered hawks and a few
falcons coming later in the day. The 3 broad-winged hawks that passed
overhead were faint whispers of September’s kettles. Perhaps they were
there to pass the torch to their Buteo cousins. We saw 7 golden eagles and
some flew directly over the site giving us great looks and exciting all of
the assembled crew. The few northern harriers, sharp-shinned hawks and
Cooper’s hawks rounded out the day and left us with 11 different species
counted.
Non-raptor Observations:
We spotted 410 crows flying by in large flocks, and only saw 85 blue jays.
A highlight of the day was seeing well over a hundred American white
pelicans both flying in formation in the distance and floating in the
water. Other than a large gathering of birds in the morning, the channel in
front of our site was relatively calm throughout the day.
Predictions:
We are looking forward to seeing more of October’s wonderful diversity as
the month progresses. Tomorrow is shaping up to be a similar day
weather-wise and we hope to see more high numbers of turkey vultures and
diverse collection of other raptors migrating over the site.
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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
