Date: 10/22/26 4:49 pm From: <reports...> Subject: [birders] Detroit River Hawk Watch (22 Oct 2026) 3418 Raptors
Detroit River Hawk Watch
Brownstown, Michigan, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 22, 2026
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Observation start time: 08:00:00
Observation end time: 17:00:00
Total observation time: 9 hours
Official Counter: Gracie Sangmeister
Observers: Andrew Sturgess, Bella Maiwurm, Erika Van Kirk,
Johannes Postma, 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:
The day fittingly wrapped up to the tune of Bill Wither�s �Lovely Day�,
carried across the water from the nicknamed Maroon House. Great playlist
Maroon House folks, we appreciate the Aretha Franklin and Frank Sinatra
hits as well. Morning began with a deep blue sky, nonexistent wind,
temperature around forty-five degrees Fahrenheit, and barometer hovering
around thirty point two six. Our counters spent most of the day picking
raptors out of the ocean above, cumulus clouds providing slight relief in
the last two hours. Winds and temperatures both rose throughout the day,
peaking at nine mph and sixty-eight degrees. The barometer on the other
hand remained mostly steady, dropping only three-hundreths of an inch.
Raptor Observations:
Today, the visitors brought all the luck. For two folks that had never been
to a hawk watching site before? Well, the stream of turkey vultures just
pivoted their line to be low, right overhead. A visitor who just arrived at
the site? The one to spot the first and only light morph rough-legged hawk
of the day. Someone hoping to see their lifer golden eagle? Absolutely, we
have an immature scheduled to fly over now. What a treat to share these
birds with people! The turkey vultures swapped near and far lines a few
times, with ultimately three thousand one hundred and fifty-nine birds
flapping south. Red-tails had their second-best day of the season thus far
with one hundred and eighty-five. Red-shoulders and sharpies mixed in with
the kettles as well, with forty-three and eighteen, respectively. Bald
eagles and northern harriers both with three, the Cooper�s hawk two falling
just short of a three way tie. The immature golden eagle and light morph
roughie rounded out the raptors.
Non-raptor Observations:
The day's non-raptors included three woodpecker species, both kinds of
kinglet, mallards, wood ducks, two species of sparrow, only one type of
warbler (the ever prevalent butterbutt), and a smattering of others that
reached twenty-seven non-raptor species in total. Of particular note were
fifty white pelicans continuing to hang out on the lake and over three
hundred double-crested cormorants that arrived in a neat line before
whiffling below the treeline. A single peregrine was also observed bopping
around and generally exhibiting non-migratory behavior. Three hundred and
ten blue jays and four hundred sixty-eight crows used the light winds to
continue south. For non-birds, we had quick looks at a beaver that swam
quite close past the picnic tables and six optimistic monarchs raced the
cold weather.
Predictions:
Tomorrow breaks the sunny weather pattern of the last few days by starting
with fog that lets up into partly cloudy skies with a high of 63F. Winds
will stay northeast for the morning and into early afternoon before
shifting more easterly and southerly in the four to six range. The
barometer will stay quite high between 30.35" and 30.39". The last few days
have been a slow start for the raptors and tomorrow's fog may keep them
down for longer. Otherwise, little else seems to keep the turkey vultures
away, and I wouldn't be surprised to see more emerge from the fading fog
tomorrow.
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Report submitted by Erika Van Kirk (<erika_vankirk...>)
Detroit River Hawk Watch information may be found at:
http://www.detroitriverhawkwatch.org
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