Detroit River Hawk Watch Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Nov 08, 2024 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 297 2736 64310 Osprey 0 0 18 Bald Eagle 11 44 182 Northern Harrier 4 14 333 Sharp-shinned Hawk 10 71 3462 Cooper's Hawk 9 18 93 American Goshawk 0 1 1 Red-shouldered Hawk 39 131 297 Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 6785 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 1 Red-tailed Hawk 170 724 1653 Rough-legged Hawk 0 4 18 Golden Eagle 9 62 106 American Kestrel 0 1 403 Merlin 1 2 25 Peregrine Falcon 1 3 31 Unknown Accipiter 1 1 16 Unknown Buteo 0 7 38 Unknown Falcon 0 0 13 Unknown Eagle 1 3 6 Unknown Raptor 0 1 29 Total: 553 3823 77820 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 09:00:00 Observation end time: 16:00:00 Total observation time: 7 hours Official Counter: Michael Patrikeev Observers: Don Sherwood, Jo Patterson, Johannes Postma, 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: Westerly winds, shifting between West and North-west, up to 24 km per hour (15 mi/hr). Temperature rose from +9C in the morning to +16C in late afternoon (48 to 61F). Raptor Observations: Slight improvement from yesterday, by ca. two hundred birds. Steady, but rather sparse trickle of Turkey Vultures (the largest kettles were of 30-35). Twice as many Red-shouldered Hawks as on Thursday, but only a third of Golden Eagles. The number of Red-tails was similar. Cooper's Hawks seem to be on the move; we recorded almost as many of them as of Sharp-shins (9 vs. 10). A large raptor, either a large Cooper's Hawk or small Goshawk crossed the river and circled overhead. The bird was photographed, but the jury is still out. Please stay tuned. Non-raptor Observations: We counted 281 American Crows (280 of them flew between 11 AM and noon). Also of interest were female Pintail, a flock of 20 Killdeer, and two groups of Great Egrets (35-40 total) which crossed the river over Gibraltar. Predictions: Easterly winds and cool temperatures are expected tomorrow. It may be a nearly ideal day for migrating raptors. ======================================================================== Report submitted by Erika Van Kirk (erika_vankirk@fws.gov) 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