Date: 10/15/25 3:59 pm From: <reports...> Subject: [birders] Detroit River Hawk Watch (15 Oct 2025) 5831 Raptors
Detroit River Hawk Watch
Brownstown, Michigan, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 15, 2025
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Observation start time: 08:00:00
Observation end time: 17:00:00
Total observation time: 9 hours
Official Counter: Jo Patterson
Observers: Andrew Sturgess, Don Sherwood, Mark Hainen, Rosemary Brady
Visitors:
We welcome visitors to our site as we are eager to share the joys of hawk
watching with one and all. Although there may be times in which we are all
very busy and need alone-time to concentrate, those are the times that are
most enjoyable for visitors as the skies are filled with migrating raptors.
Weather:
We sat patiently through the light rain that started the watch, and
patiently through the first two hours of the watch, as we saw very few
birds. At the very end of the watch, we were rewarded with many squadrons
of turkey vultures, most near our location, where we could closely observe
them as strains of Wagner’s The Ride of the Valkyries ran through the
auditory cortex. The winds were mostly light northwest winds, veering
around to the north during our final, most productive hours. The cloud
cover after the rain was a forty-nine-shades-of-gray, rumpled duvet cover
of a sky, but as the day progressed, we saw more bright white cumulus
clouds appear, only to move on to the south, until the sky was a higher
percentage of blue than white. Temperatures reached the sixty-three-degree
mark, but as the wind turned more to the north, it felt like it was
dropping. The barometer stayed high, not moving in any significant way.
Raptor Observations:
The turkey vultures were the boss of all the other birds with a grand total
of five thousand, seven hundred, and twenty-eight. As soon as one kettle
cleared, another would appear in the haze as if coming through the NCAA
portal. The northwest wind does not do us any favors with most other
species, but we were able to rack up forty-nine red-tails today. The
sharpies are still in the game with thirty-four souls. Red-shouldered hawks
are becoming more a frequent visitor with ten making it past today. Two was
a common number today with bald eagles, American kestrels, northern
harriers and last, but certainly not least, two golden eagles. Cooper’s
hawks and merlins said that one is the loneliest number.
Non-raptor Observations:
There are still some summer birds to be seen in the park. An eastern phoebe
was seen hawking insects, and a blue-headed vireo was in the vicinity,
along with other warblers. The pelicans continue to put on impressive
displays of their flight capabilities with numbers in the hundreds. A pair
of sandhill cranes were soaring high overhead. Caspian and Forster’s
terns were seen today. The blue jay’s race is nearly run, with only
eighty counted today. American crows showed a three hundred percent
increase with twelve birds. Monarchs could only muster two today.
Predictions:
We have one more day of northerly winds before we have to pay the price
with three days of southern winds, and a potential rainout on Sunday. The
winds will be below five mph, so the birds will again go aloft in search of
stronger winds. Temperatures will reach the same mark as today, perhaps a
degree higher. The barometer will remain high, but it will dip on the
weekend when the rains come. Skies should be clear. I would expect a slow
start to the day, to which we have become accustomed, but hopefully, our
favorite carrion eaters will continue to fly.
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Report submitted by Andrew Sturgess (<ajyes72...>)
Detroit River Hawk Watch information may be found at:
http://www.detroitriverhawkwatch.org
