Half a dozen JAS members joined the watch for raptors at Erie Metropark on Tuesday.  It was a beautiful day with a clear sky, but a few more clouds might have been nice to help locate birds.  We observed 9 raptors including a Peregrine Falcon attempting a lunch break on a Black-bellied Plover.  My list shows 9 Bald Eagles, but the official count from the Detroit River Hawkwatch cited only 1.  We may have been seeing 'local' birds which they do not count at migration.  

I addition to gulls that normally clog the sky while you are trying to spot raptors, the site has been overrun for the past days with huge numbers of Blue Jays coming over the border from Canada.  I entered 2000 in eBird, but per the official Hawkwatch post on Tuesday, "We totaled thirty-seven thousand, two hundred and fifty-one."  So I guess I was a bit off.

A few of us took a walk on the trail adjacent to the observation area to see if we could get some smaller birds for our trip.  We got a hummer, a few warblers, and the usual suspects. And we did see one of the most dangerous animals in Michigan-the dreaded Metropark deer. Famously unafraid of humans.

My eBird list is available HERE 

Detroit River Hawk Watch
Brownstown, Michigan, USA

Daily Raptor Counts: Sep 28, 2021
Species	Day's Count	Month Total	Season Total
Black Vulture	0	0	0
Turkey Vulture	715	1150	1150
Osprey	0	17	17
Bald Eagle	1	27	27
Northern Harrier	1	125	125
Sharp-shinned Hawk	92	2074	2074
Cooper's Hawk	0	5	5
Northern Goshawk	0	0	0
Red-shouldered Hawk	0	0	0
Broad-winged Hawk	931	20064	20064
Swainson's Hawk	0	0	0
Red-tailed Hawk	5	42	42
Rough-legged Hawk	0	0	0
Golden Eagle	0	0	0
American Kestrel	25	519	519
Merlin	2	20	20
Peregrine Falcon	4	21	21
Unknown Accipiter	0	0	0
Unknown Buteo	0	1	1
Unknown Falcon	0	0	0
Unknown Eagle	0	0	0
Unknown Raptor	0	0	0
Total:	1776	24065	24065