Another Big Broad-winged Hawk Flight - 18 Sep 2023

 

Day 2 (yesterday) of HawkFest at the Detroit River Hawk Watch at Lake Erie Metropark brought a crowd of visitors that witnessed another great flight of Broad-winged Hawks. Over 19,000 birds were tallied in a single hour before lunch that gave us almost 20,000 raptors for the day. Our 74,665 Broad-winged Hawks would surpass last year's total of 67,349!

This morning was no different, although a bit more challenging. Having arrived at the Boat Launch shortly after 9 am a strong N wind was blowing 10-15 mph. Curiously, Sharp-shinned Hawks were already flying with most birds flying due north before crossing the channel then being blown back our way.

The first Broad-winged Hawk kettles appeared over Celeron Island shortly after 10 am and began to build as birds could be seen flying in from the south. The kettles then started streaming south of the count site over Lake Erie before passing somewhere near Pt. Mouillee SGA. By 11 am Kevin had tallied some 17,000+ birds with another 3000 birds between 11 - 12 pm. 

Winds never slowed and the kettles never reached the north edge of Celeron Island, but other birders would report seeing small kettles over Pt. Mouillee HQ in the afternoon. DRHW reported maybe 2 birds after noon...

We did get a few stragglers come close enough for photos but the majority of birds would be seen under difficult lighting conditions. This Bald Eagle attempted to give us a lesson on molt as it circled in front of the counters.

Only a couple of Sharp-shinned Hawks passed low enough for photo opps.

A few Broad-winged Hawks passed overhead despite their kettling cousins farther to the south.

We managed to see 1 or 2 kettles close enough to make out with the naked eye. Otherwise, we had to settle for salt-n-pepper looks through the bins. Poor Kevin and Andrew...

Best looks occurred for those birds that decided to circle the skies just behind us to the west...

As of 3pm today our Broad-winged Hawk tally for the day was 20,929. This puts us at 95,594 for the season and betters last years total of 67,349! And we still have 11 days to go in September (last year's big day occurred on 23 Sep 2022 w/ 23,859 Broad-winged Hawks).

Observation start time:	08:00:00
Observation end time:	15:00:00
Total observation time:	7 hours
Official Counter	Kevin Georg
Observers:	Andrew Sturgess, Bill Peregord, Jackie Quinones, Jerry Jourdan

Visitors:
We welcome visitors to our site and are very willing to share migration information, photography and ID tips with them. We have cards and pamphlets, so come and talk to us. However, during times of high traffic, requiring extra focus and concentration, we would respectfully ask that everyone use their indoor voices and allow us to fulfill our mission to the best of our abilities. Thank you.

Weather:
I have been slightly annoyed lately with the lack of accuracy in the wind forecasts, I should have kept my mouth shut. Today our cup runneth over with NW winds that exceeded the predicted speeds and pushed all the birds off to an undisclosed location. (Actually, it was Pointe Mouille Headquarters) Although the early liftoff birds were not as affected, and we could still see them at the limit of visibility, that eventually changed, leaving us with mostly empty skies at the end of the day. Temperatures fell short of the seventy-degree mark by a couple, and with the wind and cloud cover, it felt a little cooler. Cloud cover lessened during the day leaving a mostly blue canvas with few subjects. The barometer was trying to get back to the thirty-inch mark and did come close, but no cigar.

Raptor Observations:
We still had a good day numerically, but not visually. Yesterday’s majestic fly-over was not repeated and the winds eventually scrubbed the sky clean of all but the most hardy of travelers. Our big hour for broad-wings was the second hour with 18,134 counted. They had advanced further north than might have been expected on the NW wind, but as they crossed were pushed out to the lake. Some of them stuck it out in the third hour and our total for the day was 20,929. The last three hours were single digit counts for that species. Sharpies started off with about twenty an hour, but their numbers dwindled as the day progressed, they finally gave in to a wind that buffeted them as they tried to pass. They totaled 123 at the end of the day. Kestrels were also being tested aerodynamically today; only twenty-four of them made it past our location. Turkey vultures must be feeling the migratory sap rising as we had eighty-six of them today, in small but growing groups. Northern harriers only accounted for four of the sum total today. We had two osprey that seemed hungry and paused to survey the waters in front of us. The local birds rarely hunted there when they were still present, and the migrants had no luck either. One merlin and one peregrine apiece were spotted, handling the winds much easier than the sharpies and kestrels. Two red-tails were included, and our local birds were up enjoying the added lift from the stronger winds. We didn’t count any migrant eagles today but eagles enjoy the strong winds and the locals were playing tag with each other with a few barrel rolls thrown in for good measure.

Non-raptor Observations:
Our local cormorants were gathered over a school of fish early in the day with the usual air cover from the gulls. Ducks seem to be in a moving mood the last few days with birds seen off in the distance. We are expecting the blue jays to start appearing soon but so far, we haven’t seen any flocks. The Carolina wren was working on a new song for its repertoire today. The kingfisher only has one taunting laugh. Some mute swans were noted nearby.

Predictions:
The winds should drop overnight but start to pick up from WNW when we start the watch. Fortunately, they should fall short of today’s maximum speed, topping out just about six mph. Around midday, they are predicted to turn to the dreaded SW direction, although as usual, the timing of these events is to be taken with a spoon of salt. (Did I say spoon? I meant to say grain.) Temperatures will be similar to today’s, falling just short of the seventy mark. We will have cloud cover that will increase during the day, but still allow sunshine to reach us. As long as the winds are moderate, we may get birds on the WNW wind, as it is not a punitive as the strong NW blow. If the winds turn SW early, then our fortunes may take a turn for the worst with the winds.

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Report submitted by Andrew Sturgess (ajyes72@gmail.com)
Detroit River Hawk Watch information may be found at: http://www.detroitriverhawkwatch.org
More information at hawkcount.org: [Site Profile] [Day Summary] [Month Summary]
Count data submitted via Dunkadoo - [Project Details]

Lake Erie Metropark, Wayne, Michigan, US
Sep 18, 2023 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Protocol: Stationary
Checklist Comments:     Detroit River Hawk Watch
10 species

Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura)  86
Osprey (carolinensis) (Pandion haliaetus carolinensis)  2
Northern Harrier (Circus hudsonius)  4
Sharp-shinned Hawk (Accipiter striatus)  123
Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus)  1
Broad-winged Hawk (Buteo platypterus)  20929     The first Broad-winged Hawk kettles appeared over Celeron Island shortly after 10 am and began to build as birds could be seen flying in from the south. The kettles then started streaming south of the count site over Lake Erie before passing somewhere near Pt. Mouillee SGA. By 11 am Kevin had tallied some 17,000+ birds with another 3000 birds between 11 - 12 pm. As of 3pm today our Broad-winged Hawk tally for the day was 20,929. This puts us at 95,594 for the season and betters last years total of 67,349! And we still have 11 days to go in September (last year's big day occurred on 23 Sep 2022 w/ 23,859 Broad-winged Hawks).
Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis)  2
American Kestrel (Falco sparverius)  24
Merlin (Falco columbarius)  1
Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus)  1

View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S158375479

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