Date: 9/18/26 4:45 pm From: <reports...> Subject: [birders] Detroit River Hawk Watch (18 Sep 2026) 36332 Raptors
Detroit River Hawk Watch
Brownstown, Michigan, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 18, 2026
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Observation start time: 08:00:00
Observation end time: 18:00:00
Total observation time: 9.75 hours
Official Counter: Gracie Sangmeister
Observers: Andrew Sturgess, Bella Maiwurm, Bill Peregord, Don Sherwood,
Erika Van Kirk, Johannes Postma, Mark Hainen,
Michelle Peregord, Rebekah Graham , Rosemary Brady
Visitors:
We welcome visitors to our site at the Lake Erie Metropark Boat Launch. We
are always willing to discuss the events of the day. Let us share our
enthusiasm with you. There will be busy days, that may require our full
attention, but those are not that frequent, and they provide great thrills
for all. We can predict good days to some degree, but the exact hour is up
to the birds, so be prepared to put in some time for the best results. Pack
a lunch😊
Weather:
There are days and then there are DAYS! We had the latter today.
Yesterday�s late run of broadwings turned out to be the tip of a very large
iceberg. We had kettles all day, including during the overtime hours that
we put in. Winds were from the northeast today, variable in strength, which
may have affected the flight lines at times, but fairly faithful to the
direction of origin. The top speed was around noon, at ten mph, followed by
a big dip but recovering its strength later in the watch. The cloud cover
was also variable with less cover in the morning, allowing views of the
cirrus clouds, followed by a gradual build up of cumulus until we ended the
day with an almost solid stratus cloud blanket. The temperature rose from a
cool fifty-five in the pre-watch hours to a peak of seventy-five. The
barometer was rising early, peaked around mid-day but started to fall in
anticipation of wet weather over the weekend.
Raptor Observations:
After the frustration of barely missing twelve thousand birds a few days
ago, we had a nice rebound today. The broad-wings had kept their powder dry
during the recent rainy days and were prepared for this window between wet
systems. They started early and ended late. It was a most extraordinary
sight to see, thousands of hawks in rivers of migratory birds. Migration is
massive, but too often it goes unobserved, today was not that day. We ended
with thirty-five thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine birds. If you rank
a day by the number of OMGS!, this one was up there. Both of the other
seasonal birds broke the century mark with the kestrels having their day at
last, beating out the sharpies by a one hundred sixteen to one hundred five
total. Quite the podium today. Turkey vultures flew by in small
collectives, totaling seventy-five. Their month is coming in a couple of
weeks. We had ten bald eagles, and the same number of red-tailed hawks.
Seven northern harriers were tallied. Two peregrine falcons gave us two
thirds of the hat-trick. One Cooper�s hawk rounds out the count for a total
of thirty-six thousand, three hundred and thirty-two, not a bad day�s work
Non-raptor Observations:
It was hard to pay attention to other species when trying to track the
devilishly hard-to-follow broad-wings, the original �now you see me, now
you don�t� birds. A few pelicans were keeping company with a like number of
mute swans by the jetty. Swallows and gulls were populating the sky in big
numbers today, at times a little bit of a nuisance as they interfered with
the view. We are seeing a lot of mallards take to the air, perhaps
practicing their pre-migration dance steps. Our resident grumpy egret made
no secret of his displeasure at any and all disturbances, and it is easily
disturbed. The monarchs usually fly with the broadwings and three hundred
and nineteen joined in today.
Predictions:
It�s unfortunate that for the annual Hawk Fest, held over the weekend at
the Metropark, the weather seems disinclined to cooperate. The predictions
are for nearly an inch of rain. Even with Weather Undergrounds predilection
to be wrong on such matters, this seems threatening enough to take it
seriously. Temperatures will be lower tomorrow, peaking at sixty-four
degrees, a ten-degree drop. The barometer will be plunging, not a good
thing for birds that are migrating. Winds may still be northeast in the
early hours but will swing around to a more southerly direction later on.
This may be a two-day affair for the wet weather. Hopefully the sharpies
will pay no heed but for broadwings, this is not the favored forecast.
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Report submitted by Andrew Sturgess (<ajyes72...>)
Detroit River Hawk Watch information may be found at:
http://www.detroitriverhawkwatch.org
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