Date: 10/1/25 3:25 pm From: <reports...> Subject: [birders] Detroit River Hawk Watch (01 Oct 2025) 728 Raptors
Detroit River Hawk Watch
Brownstown, Michigan, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 01, 2025
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Observation start time: 08:00:00
Observation end time: 15:00:00
Total observation time: 7 hours
Official Counter: Jo Patterson
Observers: Andrew Sturgess, Bill Peregord, Don Sherwood, Jerry Jourdan
Visitors:
We welcome visitors to our site as we are eager to share the joys of hawk
watching with one and all. Although there may be times in which we are all
very busy and need alone-time to concentrate, those are the times that are
most enjoyable for visitors as the skies are filled with migrating raptors.
Weather:
Today was a Gordon Lightfoot kind of day, when the gales of November came
early, or so it seemed. The temperatures were lower as a result of a fairly
robust wind that started northeast, but spent most of the time coming from
a more easterly direction off the lake. It was in our face all day, so an
application of aloe gel was necessary to prevent the facial skin from
turning to human jerky. The temperature reached seventy-one degrees, but it
felt a little short of that due to the winds. The cloud cover was mostly
due to plane contrails, although some high icy cirrus clouds appeared.
Nothing that most people would consider real clouds, providing real shade.
Raptor Observations:
Nothing to see here, move along. It was a disappointing day, even though we
recorded six hundred and eighty-two turkey vultures. Most of them seen in
the second hour, or the final hour. We had little to do between those hours
with only twenty sharpies moving through. They beat the broadwings by one
bird. Three red-tailed hawks rode out the tempest. Only two harriers were
seen today. One peregrine and one bald eagle completed the count.
Non-raptor Observations:
We did see a group of common terns in the morning hours. In the afternoon,
a flock of Bonaparte’s gulls gave a flyby. Hopefully, we will see them
more often and be able to find a little gull with them. The pelicans were
up, but only a handful took to the air. Caspian and Forster’s terns are
still present. The blue jays did not let the winds bother them with eleven
thousand, five hundred, and seventy counted.
Monarchs were fairly rare today, most of the fourteen counted coming in one
hour, when the winds slowed a little at the end of the day. The government
shutdown may affect our ability to post hourly but we will try to continue
to do so.
Predictions:
The winds should ease tomorrow, staying around the five-mph mark. It may
stay mostly east, but wander north or south of that a little. The barometer
should remain high. Cloud cover should be present, but it was supposed to
be here today and never really arrived. The temperature should be about the
same, but a little higher than seventy-degrees. Less wind should be a good
thing, as today it was a little too healthy for our site. Hopefully, we
won’t have another donut hole in the middle of the day tomorrow.
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Report submitted by Andrew Sturgess (<ajyes72...>)
Detroit River Hawk Watch information may be found at:
http://www.detroitriverhawkwatch.org
