Detroit River Hawk Watch Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Oct 31, 2023 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 242 88495 90628 Osprey 0 2 53 Bald Eagle 9 38 110 Northern Harrier 1 115 470 Sharp-shinned Hawk 23 3038 6791 Cooper's Hawk 0 47 58 American Goshawk 0 2 2 Red-shouldered Hawk 2 277 277 Broad-winged Hawk 0 109 107691 Swainson's Hawk 0 1 1 Red-tailed Hawk 41 1308 1394 Rough-legged Hawk 0 15 15 Golden Eagle 4 13 13 American Kestrel 1 299 1284 Merlin 0 15 46 Peregrine Falcon 1 29 49 Unknown Accipiter 0 0 0 Unknown Buteo 0 1 2 Unknown Falcon 0 0 1 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 0 0 0 Total: 324 93804 208885 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 08:00:00 Observation end time: 15:00:00 Total observation time: 7 hours Official Counter: Kevin Georg Observers: Andrew Sturgess, Don Sherwood, Jackie Quinones, Sam Heilman Visitors: We welcome visitors to our site and are very willing to share migration information, photography and ID tips with them. We have cards and pamphlets, so come and talk to us. However, during times of high traffic, requiring extra focus and concentration, we would respectfully ask that everyone use their indoor voices and allow us to fulfill our mission to the best of our abilities. Thank you. Weather: It was a bit nippley on this All Hallows Eve. Despite a healthy wind from the SW, which we normally associate with warmer air, we had our coldest day of the year so far. Thankfully, for the participants, that particular wind’s energy is dampened by a windbreak of trees behind us. It peaked in the afternoon at fifteen mph and must have turned the birds away from us before we saw them. The day started pleasantly enough with bright blue skies that showed no hint that the afternoon might bring snow flurries. The change, when it came, was quick and dramatic, gone was the light, gone was the heat from the sun, as gray stratus clouds moved in on the double. Temperatures did reach the forty-degree mark but the real-feels, if the full force of the wind was present, was in the low thirty-degree range. The barometer fell a little but managed to stay above thirty inches of mercury. Gingko trees, which are famous for dropping all their leaves in one day, chose this day, or at least mine did, to do so. When I left this morning, it was a bright yellow, fully leaved tree in full autumn glory, when I returned, it had dropped them all. Raptor Observations: People often ask about when the best time to see the birds is. There is no correct answer to that since it all depends. For one lucky visitor this morning, his first birds were two golden eagles in the bright blue sunshine. This is not normal since usually you must pay dues to join the club. Our day had bookends of little activity, the first hour only one sharpie showed up and in the last hour, we were skunked. The SW winds were probably too strong, especially in the afternoon, to allow migrants near us. Turkey vultures were not present in their usual numbers and we only managed to count 242 of them. Lately we have had numbers in the four digits, but it is the end of November when their numbers should be declining. Red-tailed hawks were still interested, but I suspect we missed a lot of them off to the north since only forty-one made it into our binocular range. Sharp-shins took the bronze with twenty-three of them passing through. Bald eagles were taking the high road today with nine passing over up near the clouds. Two red-shouldered hawks were noted. Birds with a single representative were the harriers, peregrine falcons and American kestrels. Golden eagles came by early, as the first two were our fourth and fifth birds of the day. The two later ones had a rude greeting from a young bald eagle who seemed anxious to increase the pace at which they were passing through. We have seen this aggression in previous years. Today, one of the goldens did a barrel roll, with talons up, to defend itself, but did seem to speed up its departure. Non-raptor Observations: The slip was almost empty today with only a pied-billed grebe or two to keep us company. A small flock of Bonaparte’s flew through in the morning and two or three of them continued to visit. It was later noted that the little gull, which we have not seen in some time, was out on the lake with another group of Bonaparte’s. They were making laps, flying into the wind as they hunted and then looping back to start all over again. We did see some smaller groups of tundra swans today. A red-bellied woodpecker added to the soundtrack. We could see a large group of ducks, probably scaup, out on the lake when a ship put them up. Predictions: Tomorrow might be interesting, sunny skies with a rising barometer, and NW winds of a moderate strength. Temperatures will still be in the forty-degree range, so don’t leave home without the union suit as the NW wind will reach out and touch us. It should be around ten mph and hopefully the birds will come up to our end of the lake. The winds will return to the SW for the next few days so tomorrow might be the most productive day of the next week. ======================================================================== 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 Count data submitted via Dunkadoo - Project info at: https://dunkadoo.org/explore/detroit-river-international-wildlife-refuge/detroit-river-hawk-watch-fall-2023