Expert Hawk Counter (for an hour) - 26 Sep 2010


Sunday morning brought the chance for a few hours of birding.  I decided to check out Lake Erie Metropark and Pt. Mouillee HQ to see if I could pick up some late fall migrants.  My friend Patricia Gamburd has a knack for finding neat birds in this area, and since she was out of town this weekend I felt the need to cover the area for her.

I checked out Campau Rd. around 8:30 am and drove to the HQ at Pt. Mouillee.  Although I heard a few Golden-crowned Kinglets and Northern Cardinals the road was quiet.  Just before the gate a half-dozen Wood Ducks were swimming in the shade of the pond to my left.  I spent a few minutes near the gate, but nothing came by.  A swing through the parking lot yielded no birds, and overhead no hawks were flying.  So I headed out back toward the gate, where I found a single American Redstart, then left and headed to Lake Erie Metropark. 

Pte. Mouillee SGA--HQ, Wayne, Michigan, US
Sep 26, 2010 8:30 AM - 9:00 AM
Protocol: Traveling
1.0 mile(s)
4 species

Wood Duck (Aix sponsa)  6
Golden-crowned Kinglet (Regulus satrapa)  2
American Redstart (Setophaga ruticilla)  1
Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis)  2

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S165130984

This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)

I parked at the Marshland Museum and headed toward the Bald Eagle pen, where Luc was quietly resting.  I had walked past the small island in the parking and found 6 Yellow-rumped Warblers perched on the cattails.  Another small flock of a half-dozen butter-butts were working the trees near Luc's pen.  Several more small flocks of yellow-rumps were moving quickly through the area as I walked the trail.


A pair of Scarlet Tanagers appeared overhead, and I chased both birds with the hope of getting some clear pics through the tree branches.  The female bird, slightly greener in appearance than the yellower male, worked the branches directly above, then took off after the male and disappeared into the thicker woods.


Up ahead a Black-throated Green Warbler (1st fall male?) made a brief appearance, as did several Ruby-crowned and Golden-crowned Kinglets. 


Lake Erie Metropark, Wayne, Michigan, US
Sep 26, 2010 9:15 AM - 10:15 AM
Protocol: Traveling
1.0 mile(s)
9 species

Wood Duck (Aix sponsa)  6
Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus)  1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet (Corthylio calendula)  2
Golden-crowned Kinglet (Regulus satrapa)  2
American Redstart (Setophaga ruticilla)  1
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Setophaga coronata)  12
Black-throated Green Warbler (Setophaga virens)  1
Scarlet Tanager (Piranga olivacea)  2     The female bird, slightly greener in appearance than the yellower male, worked the branches directly above, then took off after the male and disappeared into the thicker woods.
Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis)  2

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S42373784

This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)

I then headed over to the boat launch, where Jeff Schultz was acting a head counter for the Detroit River Hawk Watch.  Things were a bit slow there until Jeff scoped several large kettles of Broad-winged Hawks (BWHA) south over Lake Erie.  David Boon and I offered to run down to Pt. Mouillee to get a more accurate count, so at 10:30 am we headed south.  Five minutes later we were standing on the observation deck at the headquarters.


For the next hour things would be hopping, with a steady stream of Broad-wings flying east from Canada, and kettling in the clouds produced by the Fermi plant.  


How Jeff could see these birds still boggles the mind. Here's my minute-by-minute account of the birds we (David, Tom Okowski, Joan Tisdale, Pat Mulawi and Gerry Olson) saw:

10:38 - 200 BWHA, 5 Turkey Vulture (TV) - mostly south over Pt. Mouillee barely in binocular view
10:40 - 30 TV, 1 BWHA - directly east of us
10:45 - Bald Eagle (BE), 50 TV, 100 BWHA
10:49 - 3 Red-shouldered Hawks, 6 BWHA directly overhead
10:53 - 7 BWHA
10:57 - 14 TV, 5 Red-tailed Hawks (RTHA)
10:59 - 60 BWHA, 2 Sharp-shinned Hawks (SSHA), 10 TV - streaming south over Fermi
11:01 - 30 BWHA
11:06 - 70 BWHA - streaming south over Pt. Moo
11:08 - 3 SSHA, 6 TV
11:18 - 24 BWHA, 5 SS
11:24 - 2 Cooper's Hawks (COHA), 1 BE overhead

- incidentally, we also saw a flock of 6 Lesser Yellowlegs, and were hearing a Greater Yellowlegs, Carolina Wren and Marsh Wren singing in the cattails in the canal to our left.

11:34 - 100 BWHA - south over Pt. Moo
11:35 - 1 SSHA, 2 COHA - overhead
11:39 - 40 BWHA
11:46 - 150 BWHA, 2 Ruby-throated Hummingbirds (RTHU)
11:49 - 60 BWHA, 1 BE, 1 RTHA
11:51 - 1 COHA, 1 RTHU
11:53 - 30 BWHA
11:56 - 1 Peregrine Falcon attacking 2 TV overhead, 1 SSHA, 1 COHA
11:59 - 10 BWHA

Once things died down enough I had to leave, so I ran back to LEMP and filled out a tally sheet for Jeff.  I then high-tailed it home.  That was fun!


Broad-winged Hawk @ Pt. Mouillee, 26 Sep 2010

Cooper's Hawk @ Pt. Mouillee, 26 Sep 2010

Red-shouldered Hawk @ Pt. Mouillee, 26 Sep 2010.  

Pte. Mouillee SGA--HQ, Wayne, Michigan, US
Sep 26, 2010 10:30 AM - 12:30 PM
Protocol: Stationary
Checklist Comments:     I headed over to the boat launch, where Jeff Schultz was acting a head counter for the Detroit River Hawk Watch.  Things were a bit slow there until Jeff scoped several large kettles of Broad-winged Hawks (BWHA) south over Lake Erie.  David Boon and I offered to run down to Pt. Mouillee to get a more accurate count, so at 10:30 am we headed south.  Five minutes later we were standing on the observation deck at the headquarters. For the next hour things would be hopping, with a steady stream of Broad-wings flying east from Canada, and kettling in the clouds produced by the Fermi plant.  How Jeff could see these birds still boggles the mind. Here's my minute-by-minute account of the birds we (David, Tom Okowski, Joan Tisdale, Pat Mulawi and Gerry Olson) saw:Me, David Boon, Tom Okowski, Joan Tisdale, Pat Mulawi and Gerry Olson
9 species

Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris)  3
Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura)  117
Sharp-shinned Hawk (Accipiter striatus)  12
Cooper's Hawk (Accipiter cooperii)  4
Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus)  1
Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus)  3
Broad-winged Hawk (Buteo platypterus)  817     200 at 10:38 am, 100 at 10:45 am, 6 at 10:49 am, 7 at 10:53 am, 60 at 10:59 am, 30 at 11:01 am, 70 at 11:06 am, 24 at 11:18 am, 100 at 11:34 am, 40 at 11:39 am, 150 at 11:46 am, 60 at 11:49 am, 30 at 11:53 am, 10 at 11:59
Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis)  7
Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus)  1

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S42374196

This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)