Today with cloudy conditions and moderate to high winds from the southwest few raptors were flying. Ed Pike and Bruce Seeger watched for raptors. Mid-morning Turkey Vultures built in numbers to 65 before disappearing to the west. A few Sharp-shinned and Red-tailed Hawks were flying and headed south across the Straits. Around 1 pm a second group of Turkey Vultures started to gather totaling 23 moving east and west not crossing; and the numbers of Sharp-shinned and Red-tails dropped off. When quitting at 2 pm a few Turkey Vultures headed east. Ed went to the overlook by the Arnold freight dock to check for waterbirds and observed three groups of Turkey vultures (total 17) and 1 Red-tail came from the west and flew east across to Mackinac Island riding the winds. Also seen were a line of 7 Long-tailed Ducks, about 2000 Redhead Ducks, 8 Hooded Mergansers and a few Red-breasted Mergansers and Double-crested Cormorants. Total Raptors for the day are below:
Turkey Vulture 65
Osprey 1
Sharp-shinned Hawk 18
Bald Eagle 2
Red-tailed Hawk 2