Detroit River Hawk Watch Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Nov 04, 2023 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 29 2387 93015 Osprey 0 0 53 Bald Eagle 1 9 119 Northern Harrier 1 7 477 Sharp-shinned Hawk 4 39 6830 Cooper's Hawk 0 1 59 American Goshawk 0 0 2 Red-shouldered Hawk 2 20 297 Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 107691 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 1 Red-tailed Hawk 2 134 1528 Rough-legged Hawk 0 2 17 Golden Eagle 4 8 21 American Kestrel 0 2 1286 Merlin 0 1 47 Peregrine Falcon 0 4 53 Unknown Accipiter 0 0 0 Unknown Buteo 0 0 2 Unknown Falcon 0 0 1 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 0 0 0 Total: 43 2614 211499 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 09:00:00 Observation end time: 15:00:00 Total observation time: 6 hours Official Counter: Kevin Georg Observers: Andrew Sturgess, Don Sherwood, Jessica Fletcher, 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: “The beatings will continue until the morale improves” seemed to be the theme for the day. Apparently, morale improved around 1400 as the beatdown stopped and a few birds finally made an appearance. The day was a little hard to call with low SW winds; throw in the wild card of early morning rain that ended locally during the first scheduled hour of the watch and things were even more confused. The end result was that no birds came for several hours. Skies were cloudy, but the occasional bad pixel in the fully gray sky allowed short-lived blue light though. The winds, generally from the southern quarter, showed little conviction in terms of direction or strength, staying around the five-mph mark. Temperatures reached fifty-four degrees, and with little wind, felt comfortable. Raptor Observations: Godot finally arrived! After a four hour wait, in which we frequently pointed out the little gull to interested birders, a few birds started to stir. Of course, good things come to those who wait, and among those first birds were two golden eagles, close enough to be, perhaps, traveling companions. Turkey vultures were actually the first birds noted, appearing over Canada in single digit numbers. Even at the end of the watch, we ended in only double digits with twenty-nine. The maximum number of any other species was four, with only sharp-shinned hawks filling that billet. Those with a two next to their name were red-shouldered hawks and red-tailed hawks. Single birds were the bald eagles and northern harriers. Non-raptor Observations: The bird of the day was the little gull, who frequently flew in front of those willing to wait a little while for the performance. It is a striking bird with its black underwings showing as it flies back and forth. It isn’t always with the Bonaparte’s gulls with which it is associated, as it seems to fly solo a lot of the time. We did see some shorebirds fly by today. The marsh in the park has low water and is perfect habitat for those that prefer to feed in the mud. Dunlins, greater yellowlegs and semipalmated sandpipers have been seen by us, or reported to us. Ducks are staging out on the lake and today we saw some flights close enough to ID, including bufflehead, hooded mergansers and lesser scaup. There are some very large flocks of ducks out on the lake. We saw tundra swans a few times today as their southern migration continues. Predictions: The winds will be from the opposite direction tomorrow, turning northerly later tonight. The speeds will be pretty light, under five mph, so the birds won’t be moving through at a fast clip since they use the energy of the wind to propel them. Let’s hope that some of them sat down overnight close to us. The skies should clear a little tomorrow, allowing a mix of sun and cloud. The barometer will hang in there tomorrow but will take a plunge on Monday, with potential rain a couple of days later. Like today, the light winds, even though from a better direction, may slow the action, but that remains to be seen. ======================================================================== 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