Detroit River Hawk Watch Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Nov 21, 2024 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 0 2964 65201 Osprey 0 0 18 Bald Eagle 0 67 205 Northern Harrier 1 21 341 Sharp-shinned Hawk 1 87 3483 Cooper's Hawk 0 38 113 American Goshawk 0 2 2 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 151 324 Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 6785 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 1 Red-tailed Hawk 1 1032 1963 Rough-legged Hawk 0 4 18 Golden Eagle 1 74 118 American Kestrel 0 1 410 Merlin 0 2 25 Peregrine Falcon 0 4 32 Unknown Accipiter 0 3 18 Unknown Buteo 0 16 47 Unknown Falcon 0 0 13 Unknown Eagle 0 3 6 Unknown Raptor 0 2 30 Total: 4 4471 79153 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 09:00:00 Observation end time: 16:00:00 Total observation time: 7 hours Official Counter: Andrew Sturgess Observers: Don Sherwood, Jo Patterson, Rosemary Brady Visitors: We welcome visitors to our site by the boat launch in Lake Erie Metropark. We have brochures and educational information we are happy to share. Let us share our enthusiasm for migration and raptors with you! While we welcome your questions and company, please know that our professional counter, apprentices, and volunteers must communicate with each other frequently to successfully conduct the count, and they also must maintain an unobstructed view of the horizon. Weather: We had the Chinese buffet for weather today, a little of this and a little of that. This being snow, and that being rain, with the palate cleanser being a brief glimpse of blue sky and sunshine through the dominant gray stratus clouds that were the order of the day. Temperatures were barely above the freezing mark today, as a cold front associated with the low-pressure area to the north of us, swept through during the night. The winds were mostly westerly with small variations in speed on the plus and minus side of ten mph. The barometer bottomed out at 29.58 inches, which is pretty darn low. Most of the day our vision was obstructed by one means or the other, and we finally gave in an hour early as the rain had become more of a nuisance than we could bear. Raptor Observations: It was a day that was unlikely to produce many birds, as most of them skirt this kind of weather, or sit it out. Golden eagles, however, seem to think like the postal service, neither snow nor rain shall stay these birds. We did have one that made a flyover around noon that accounted for twenty-five percent of the birds count today. The rest of the posse consisted of one red-tailed hawk, one sharpie, and one harrier. The weather deteriorated as the day progressed, although the local birds did not seem to mind flying in the precipitation. Non-raptor Observations: A pair of common loons were seen out towards the lake today. They stayed all day, sharing the fish with a few pied-billed grebes. Lots of gulls were up dancing on the edge of visibility in the low scudding clouds. Usually, they are easily written off as gulls, but with poor viewing conditions, you have to look at all birds. They were mostly ring-bills, with some herring gulls, but Bonaparte’s gulls were present and a possible sighting of a distant little gull (unconfirmed) increased the pulse rate for a few moments. A few red-breasted mergansers raced by but the majority of ducks were mallards. We did see one horned, er, horny mallard that was getting jiggy with a female, head bobbing displays, and well you know the rest. Practicing for the spring, I guess. Our local eagles were busy today, one of them plucking a snack from the water nearby. Tree sparrows were making occasional visits to a nearby maple tree. Predictions: Tomorrow might be a challenging day to sit outside. The winds will increase in strength in the morning hours, blowing out of the northwest and possibly exceeding the twenty-mph mark around noon. The barometer will rebound somewhat but will still be below thirty inches. The cloud cover should be substantial for the next few days. Temperatures will be higher, rising to the mid forties in the afternoon but the wind will nullify about eight degrees of that increase, keeping the real-feels in the thirties. This wind usually benefits Holiday Beach more than us and especially when it reaches double digit speeds. ======================================================================== Report submitted by Andrew Sturgess (ajyes72@gmail.com) Detroit River Hawk Watch information may be found at: http://www.detroitriverhawkwatch.org More site information at hawkcount.org: https://hawkcount.org/siteinfo.php?rsite=285