Date: 10/22/24 5:02 pm From: <reports...> Subject: [birders] Detroit River Hawk Watch (22 Oct 2024) 413 Raptors
Detroit River Hawk Watch
Brownstown, Michigan, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 22, 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, Jo Patterson
Visitors:
We welcome visitors to our site by the boat launch in Lake Erie Metropark!
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.
Big shout out to the very kind gentleman that brought us an identification
question about a hawk he had seen recently. We worked together using some
guide books and our hawk watch brochures to identify the bird as a
red-tailed hawk!
Weather:
Today was a beautiful day at the count site. A high of 68 F (20 C) and
constant moderate wind up to 10 mph (16 kph) out of the south. There were
some high, wispy clouds for the entire day that provided great contrast for
our few birds that flew over. There was a haze in the distance that made
our view of Canada and the turkey vultures flying there slightly difficult
to see.
Raptor Observations:
The migrating raptors were few and far between today. The morning started
very slow, with only two sharp-shinned hawks in the first two hours. These
slow starts have been a common theme in the past few days of warmer weather
and southern winds. The peak of the action was around mid-day and the
following hour. Turkey vultures could be seen gathering far and low over
Canada. They had to be counted there as only a few ever reappeared after
streaming behind Celeron island’s trees. We finished with 364 on the day.
The 44 sharp-shinned hawks that passed gave us much better views, flying
relatively low and sometimes directly overhead. Our few other birds
included 2 kestrels zooming past, a northern harrier, a red-tailed hawk and
a merlin.
Non-raptor Observations:
There were relatively few other birds active in the channel in front of the
count site. However, we were enthralled by the interactions between the few
gulls, fishermen and fish. There were several yellow perch and a mystery
fish, potentially stunned after being caught by the fishermen, floating the
water. The gulls made a big show of picking them up and fighting for the
right to eat them.
We also saw 63 crows fly past in a few small flocks.
Predictions:
As many volunteers have hypothesized, the warm spell and southern winds
have stifled the migration of our raptors. As the weather begins to cool
and the winds shift in the next few days, we hope to start seeing larger
movements of turkey vultures and other raptors.
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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
