Date: 10/4/26 3:02 pm From: <reports...> Subject: [birders] Detroit River Hawk Watch (04 Oct 2026) 389 Raptors
Detroit River Hawk Watch
Brownstown, Michigan, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 04, 2026
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Observation start time: 08:00:00
Observation end time: 15:00:00
Total observation time: 7 hours
Official Counter: Gracie Sangmeister
Observers: Andrew Sturgess, 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:
We started the day catching the tail end of a system to the north of us
that watered the lawns for a few minutes before passing on. The clouds that
delivered the rain were soon a memory as the sky cleared to a blue dome for
most of the day, some late scattered cumulus clouds adding some contrast.
The winds were the issue today. A steep climb from near zero just before
the watch, to fourteen mph from the southwest at the end, made an offer the
birds could not refuse. The white horses were running on the lake as the
winds pushed both the water and the birds to the north. As the wind grew,
our count declined. The winds aside, it was a pleasant fall day with
seventy-four-degree temperatures and lots of sunshine. The barometer was
falling but still stayed above thirty inches as the dip in pressure
coincided with the increase in the wind.
Raptor Observations:
We expected a dropoff from yesterday�s count with the predicted weather
conditions and so it was. Turkey vultures played hard to get today, hiding
behind the tree line as the skirted our site; they still took the gold with
two hundred and seventy-five. Sharp-shinned hawks did what they could to
break the century mark but just fell short, sending ninety volunteers to
fight the wind. Northern harriers made the podium today with ten of them
meeting some resistance from the wind over the lake and having to
frequently recalculate. American kestrels were not too far behind with
eight birds. One osprey was seen hurrying to the exits along with two bald
eagles. The falcons were busy today with lots of aggressive action as they
took runs at their feathered frenemies. We did score the hat-trick today
with one merlin and one peregrine counted. We saw a peregrine many times
but it was not deemed to be migrating.
Non-raptor Observations:
The gulls outnumbered the raptors today as they feasted on �bugs�. I know
this because I asked one of the naturalists at the park what they were
eating and received that answer. What ever it was, the gulls were
performing aerobatics in pursuit of them, diving and twisting in a manic
way. The sheer number of them made searching for raptors difficult at
times. The cormorants and pelicans made their presence known today. Masses
of cormorants were feeding on the lake, with air cover provided by
ring-billed and herring gulls. Some of the pelicans ate side by side with
the cormorants before taking to the air to practice their wheeling
formations. A red-bellied woodpecker has been flying across the slip the
last few days. Mallards fly by frequently, and more migrating ducks are
being seen in the sky. Two thousand, three hundred and eighteen blue jays
passed by. Twenty-one monarchs made the trek.
Predictions:
Tomorrow has potential. The barometer is rising again, and northwest winds
are predicted. The strength of these winds should be from five to ten mph.
The temperature will drop with winds from the north, reaching sixty-one
degrees, thirteen degrees cooler than today. (Add a layer) The skies should
be clear. This wind should push the birds to the Lake Erie coast line so we
may not be the main recipient should the birds come in numbers, hopefully,
we see enough to keep us busy.
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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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