Date: 10/20/26 4:01 pm From: <reports...> Subject: [birders] Detroit River Hawk Watch (20 Oct 2026) 4515 Raptors
Detroit River Hawk Watch
Brownstown, Michigan, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 20, 2026
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Observation start time: 08:00:00
Observation end time: 16:00:00
Total observation time: 8 hours
Official Counter: Gracie Sangmeister
Observers: Andrew Sturgess, Don Sherwood, Erika Van Kirk,
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:
A northeast wind is the breakfast of champions at our site. We didnīŋŊt break
any records today, but had a fulfilling day nonetheless. The wind did not
stay in the northeast, it flatlined around noon and resumed from
south-southeast, one of a few different directions today that had the wind
turbines spinning on the pedestals. It crested at seven mph from
north-northeast in the late afternoon. A rather confusing day for the
raptors who had to recalculate often as the heavily caffeinated wind gods
fought for supremacy. The barometer was falling as it begins a slow decline
for a couple of days. This is a very big high-pressure system however, and
pressures will stay above thirty inches for the foreseeable future. The
predicted clouds never did arrive, although some convection clouds formed
over the waterīŋŊs edge. The temperature was sixty-eight which made for
another pleasant fall day.
Raptor Observations:
We had to work to dig out the raptors most of the day, wind shifts kept the
birds a little further away than we would prefer for the most part. Four
thousand, two hundred and five turkey vultures kept the hand clickers going
until an hour after normal closing time. The buteos had caught migration
fever today with one hundred and eighty-seven red-tailed hawks and
fifty-three red-shouldered hawks. The sharp-shins, bless their little
hearts, are still plugging away, finishing just off the podium today with
forty passing through. Nine kestrels raced by in typical falcon fashion.
Four CooperīŋŊs hawks were counted. Two bald eagles and two harriers were
noted. One merlin was looking for something to take a run at. IīŋŊm saving
the best for last of course, six golden eagles passed through today, two of
them at the same time we saw our first rough-legged hawk, a light morph.
Film at eleven on our Facebook site. (We had a glitch today and our hourly
totals show zero for one hour, that is incorrect, but the daily total is
correct.)
Non-raptor Observations:
The pelicans were there today in small numbers. Twenty BonaparteīŋŊs gulls,
named after an ornithologist nephew to the Bonaparte that we have all heard
of, were in the slip briefly today. A black duck flew by in the company of
two mallards. Yesterday, we had a flight of seven sandhill cranes fly
behind us but the scribe forgot to mention them. I shall speak to him.
Three Hudsonian godwits were seen in the park today. Today was the first
day that the crows outnumbered the blue jays. The tally was eight hundred
and four to three hundred and sixty-four. To every thing there is a season.
Monarch season is nearly over but they keep showing up in tiny numbers, two
were seen today.
Predictions:
Another Ground hog day tomorrow, nothing changes but the winds and those
are always TBD. The barometer will be falling two tenths tomorrow but stay
above thirty inches by two tenths, a sign of how large this high has been.
The winds will be doing the hokey-pokey again, different directions during
different hours, but forecast to be below five mph. The winds at that speed
are always variable and donīŋŊt provide much lift to the birds. Hopefully,
they will spike a little higher than predicted. The temperature will climb
to sixty-six and we will be working under the blue dome again. Hopefully,
the birds will keep up the pace tomorrow, although our breakfast of
champions may not be served..
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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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