Golden Eagle and New Pano - 23 Oct 2024
After returning from Ann Arbor I decided to run down to Detroit River Hawk Watch. Skies were cloudy but I was hoping that they'd be clearing enough to get a new panorama of the hawk watch site. At 2:30 pm Mike and Jo were the only ones there so I joined them and scanned the skies for raptors.
At about 3 pm I spotted a large raptor hovering over the trees along Celeron Island. Wing span was large and at a very slight dihedral, but not like a Turkey Vulture. It turned and flashed a bit of white tail so I immediately thought Rough-legged Hawk, but when it landed in a tree it showed a dark head. Mike would see it a few minutes later and suspect Golden Eagle. A few pics later and we were able to confirm. Too bad it was south over the lake and disappeared into the trees.
We'd manage a single Sharp-shinned Hawk after that.
Things slowed down enough that I tried to take some panoramas of the site. Luckily, just after quitting time the skies cleared just enough to get a few sunlight pics of the site.
Lake Erie Metropark--Detroit River Hawk Watch, Wayne, Michigan, US
Oct 23, 2024 2:30 PM - 4:00 PM
Protocol: Stationary
Checklist Comments: Mike, Jo and me; cloudy, breezy, 60F
4 species
Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura) 4
Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) 1
Sharp-shinned Hawk (Accipiter striatus) 3
Rusty Blackbird (Euphagus carolinus) 6
View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S2
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)
