Date: 10/9/25 3:51 pm From: <reports...> Subject: [birders] Detroit River Hawk Watch (09 Oct 2025) 11065 Raptors
Detroit River Hawk Watch
Brownstown, Michigan, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 09, 2025
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Observation start time: 08:00:00
Observation end time: 16:00:00
Total observation time: 8 hours
Official Counter: Jo Patterson
Observers: Andrew Sturgess, Don Sherwood, Jerry Jourdan,
Johannes Postma, Rosemary Brady, Sam Heilman
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:
A little more pleasant weather day today. Perhaps a large part of that due
to the fact that we were better prepared sartorially. Winds were northeast
at the start, as predicted, rising to eight mph, then dying completely,
rising from the ashes in a more easterly state of mind at the end of the
day. This changed the flight line by ninety-degrees from cutting over Lake
Erie to flying over Celeron Island. Regardless of the wind direction, the
Cleanup-On-Any-Aisle birds, the turkey vultures, kept coming. It was a
mostly sunny day with a smattering of small clouds at the site. Some
cumulus cloud bands could be seen well off in the distance. Temperatures
reached the predicted mark, topping out at sixty- degrees. The barometer
reached its high for the coming week at 30.56”. It should be declining
tomorrow.
Raptor Observations:
Not a bad follow up to the previous day, as a providential wind kept its
promise to deliver the goods. The goods being ten thousand, nine hundred
and fifty-two turkey vultures, the stars of October. In their own way,
these birds can be nearly as tricky to follow as the broadwings. Especially
when taking the high road in a bright blue clear sky. When you do spot
them, you can’t help but think of bomber squadrons in formation as they
glide towards you without moving a wing. It was a full-time job counting
them today as they shifted around, the kettles drifting on the winds as
they tried to make up their minds which direction to take. Some would turn
back halfway over the lake to re-kettle, especially in the morning hours.
We stayed the course though, although some of us are suffering from a case
of Marty Feldman eye syndrome. Sharpies won the silver with forty-one being
counted. Red-tails took the bronze with thirty-six. The falcon hat-trick
was accomplished with twelve kestrels, and one each of the merlin and
peregrine species. Six was the number for both red-shouldered hawks and
broad-winged hawks. Four Cooper’s hawks were tallied, the same number as
bald eagles. One harrier made a late appearance in the overtime period.
Non-raptor Observations:
The pelicans were up in the air today. Many of them in flight and in many
locations around the sky. They did not match yesterday’s large assemblage
in numbers, but they seemed to enjoy the winds. Too bad we had little time
to appreciate them. The common terns were diving again today, the minnows
must be to their liking. A beaver was spotted swimming in the slip in front
of us. The park had some resident beavers, a few years back, but they were
removed as they had a predilection for gnawing trees close to the nature
trails, putting visitors at risk. We did see a flock of small shorebirds
from a distance, no ID possible. The blue jays put up decent numbers, but
off their highs, with three thousand, six hundred. Only one monarch was
spotted, in the first hour.
Predictions:
Winds may determine out fate tomorrow, but not in a good way, as it has the
last two days. Southwest winds, climbing from a mellow four mph to a more
robust twelve, should move the birds to the north, if it does its normal
thing. There should be a little more cloud cover and temperatures should be
higher by about six-degrees. The barometer should be falling. This is our
least favorite wind, especially at higher speeds. Most birds are sensitive
to wind direction, as we saw today when the wind and the flight lines
changed. It’s unlikely that our numbers tomorrow will match todays.
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Report submitted by Andrew Sturgess (<ajyes72...>)
Detroit River Hawk Watch information may be found at:
http://www.detroitriverhawkwatch.org
