Detroit River Hawk Watch Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Nov 17, 2019 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 116 3960 52168 Osprey 0 0 35 Bald Eagle 1 15 93 Northern Harrier 6 71 336 Sharp-shinned Hawk 13 238 4095 Cooper's Hawk 4 31 114 Northern Goshawk 1 1 2 Red-shouldered Hawk 111 503 698 Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 64336 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 0 Red-tailed Hawk 554 3544 4402 Rough-legged Hawk 0 10 11 Golden Eagle 12 39 43 American Kestrel 0 4 702 Merlin 0 1 32 Peregrine Falcon 0 6 52 Unknown Accipiter 0 0 0 Unknown Buteo 0 0 1 Unknown Falcon 0 0 0 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 0 0 0 Total: 818 8423 127120 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 09:00:00 Observation end time: 15:00:00 Total observation time: 6.5 hours Official Counter: Kevin Georg Observers: Andrew Sturgess, Don Sherwood, Raburn Howland, Rosemary Brady Visitors: Johannes and Jerry J. came by to see us today. Jerry was lucky to be there when we had a little rush of golden eagles. Weather: Transitional weather today, the NE winds and high barometer were gradually replaced with changeable winds from the S or SE of variable strength as low pressure moved in. The barometer dropped nearly two tenths through the day and the sunny skies were replaced by clouds advancing on our position. As the weather closed in the flight of raptors came to an abrupt halt. Raptor Observations: The buteos were still on the move in the morning hours. 554 red-tails and 111 red-shoulders were observed passing in small kettles in a manner similar to yesterday's extraordinary day. Keeping them company were 116 turkey vultures. 13 sharp-shins and 4 Cooper's flew by and we had a goshawk to complete the accipiter hat-trick. 6 Harriers rowed by. The eagles had another big day with only 1 bald but 12 golden eagles. Hopefully we will get more late movement as we are still behind last year's low number but getting closer. Non-raptor Observations: We saw 9 sandhill cranes flying by today. A tree swallow perched close by on a bench just to show they are not ready to leave yet. Bonaparte's gulls are still working the lake nearby. Plenty of large gulls were seen blocking the view. Predictions: Hmmm, light NE winds look good but the barometer will continue to fall, although not by much. Winds will change during the day to a more easterly direction. Hoping that the last two day's trend will continue as there does seem to be a large, late movement of buteos and eagles. Should be a mix of sun and cloud tomorrow during the watch hours helping us to track the birds. Temps may see the forties again, woo-hoo! ======================================================================== 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: http://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-2019