Date: 10/12/25 2:53 pm From: <reports...> Subject: [birders] Detroit River Hawk Watch (12 Oct 2025) 3934 Raptors
Detroit River Hawk Watch
Brownstown, Michigan, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 12, 2025
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Observation start time: 08:00:00
Observation end time: 15:00:00
Total observation time: 7 hours
Official Counter: Andrew Sturgess
Observers: Bill Peregord, Don Sherwood, Johannes Postma, Mark Hainen,
Michelle Peregord, Rosemary Brady
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:
There may be better ways to spend time lazing on a sunny afternoon than
counting migrating raptors, but none of them come easily to mind. The day
had its twists and turns with the fickle winds of course. What started as a
benign northeast wind had a metamorphosis into a snarling beast of an
easterly wind that immediately seemed to scour the sky of any raptors.
Fortunately, it was on its way to a more productive southeast direction,
and when that was achieved, the flights resumed. Cloud cover was variable,
with cumulus clouds of inconsistent size, most seemed to be evaporating
over the lake. They were helpful as backdrops, when present, as the birds
were taking the high way again. Whitecaps were present on the lake, giving
evidence of the persistent nature of the wind. The temperature reached as
high as possible in the sixties, being short of seventy by one degree. The
barometer was below 30.1” but stayed above 30 inches of mercury.
Raptor Observations:
We thought that we had the beginnings of a very good day during the first
hours, with hundreds of birds counted each hour, until the wind took a
literal turn for the worse. We then dropped to thirty birds for that hour.
Luckily, the wind continued to veer and ended up in a more favorable
direction. Turkey vultures carried the water today, with three thousand,
eight hundred and fifty-five. What seemed to be a very good red-tailed day
was interrupted by the wind shift but we still managed forty-six specimens.
Twenty-two shins took the lower step of the podium finishers. Four
red-shouldered hawks were noted. Two kestrels scurried by in the winds, the
same number that the golden eagles earned. One was the number shared by
bald eagles, Cooper’s hawks, and the northern harriers.
Non-raptor Observations:
The pelicans are definitely energized the last couple of days. Many flights
of different sizes were noted, at times interfering with the counting of
TVs, as they did yesterday. The cormorants were seen en masse, flying over
the lake in a different formation than their usual follow-the-leader single
file lines. Gulls were up in numbers, their sudden improbable maneuvers
telling us they were hawking insects. Blue jay season seems to be coming to
a close with five hundred and ninety birds. As further evidence of that, we
had their successors, the crows, show up with four of them flying together
today. We don’t see crows at the watch site except for migration and at
times they can put on an impressive display. Let’s hope they have a good
year.
Predictions:
Monday looks to have winds from the east-northeast again, but they are
predicted to be less than five mph. That usually means a lot of
unpredictable ups and downs, with direction shifts thrown in for good
measure. The temperature should be higher than seventy degrees tomorrow by
a degree or two. The barometer will actually rise tomorrow but not by a
really significant amount, still high pressure. Partly cloudy skies means
some cloud, but at times, a clear blue sky to sear the eyeballs. I would
expect more of the same that we had today. We will depend on the mercy of
the winds, either feast or famine., with turkey vultures continuing their
exodus from Canada.
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Report submitted by Andrew Sturgess (<ajyes72...>)
Detroit River Hawk Watch information may be found at:
http://www.detroitriverhawkwatch.org
