Golden Afternoon at Hawk Watch - 26 Oct 2026
Winds were expected to be out of the NW at 5-8 mph today with a rising barometer, so there was hope that some Golden Eagles might show at the Detroit River Hawk Watch at Lake Erie Metropark. They did. Between the hour of noon and 1 pm NINE Golden Eagles were counted. I arrived at 1 pm just as #9 appeared but was unable to get the scope on it (guess who forgot his binoculars). But I would get credit for spotting Golden Eagle #10, and we'd see another 4 before the end of the day. Most of the Golden Eagles were spotted at scope distance, but the last 5 of the day came close enough to photograph. Turkey Vultures were kettling and streaming to the north. Red-tailed Hawks were scattered among them and put our scoping skills to the test. We'd not see any Red-shouldered Hawks until Rosemary Brady showed up, and then they started to appear. A couple of Red-tailed Hawks . Our best Golden Eagle appeared over the channel and circled a couple of times. Below are hourly totals ...
