Detroit River Hawk Watch Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Nov 15, 2019 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 32 3496 51704 Osprey 0 0 35 Bald Eagle 3 14 92 Northern Harrier 7 57 322 Sharp-shinned Hawk 10 204 4061 Cooper's Hawk 1 24 107 Northern Goshawk 0 0 1 Red-shouldered Hawk 5 248 443 Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 64336 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 0 Red-tailed Hawk 30 1132 1990 Rough-legged Hawk 3 9 10 Golden Eagle 4 17 21 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: 95 5212 123909 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 09:00:00 Observation end time: 14:00:00 Total observation time: 6 hours Official Counter: Kevin Georg Observers: Andrew Sturgess, Don Sherwood, John Elliot Visitors: Cupboard was bare today. Weather: What light in yonder window breaks? er...never mind. We had a few minutes where we saw the golden orb this morning only to be socked in by the suffocating blanket of a solid cloud deck that looked like light fog at times. Barometer stayed steady in the high zone. Winds seemed to be SW but were difficult to judge at our site. The snow seems to be getting wetter and shrinking in depth so the temps are above freezing but not by much. Raptor Observations: Another day of interesting diversity but diminishing returns as we reached the later afternoon hours. 32 turkey vultures came by mostly in one group and led the quantity contest. Red-tails were a close second with 30, again in many different forms of plumage. 5 red-shoulders joined them in the buteo category along with 3 rough-legged hawks, all light morphs. 10 sharpies, (good ole reliable sharpies), flew across with 1 Cooper's hawk joining them in the accipiter class. Eagles were on the move with 3 bald eagles and 4, count them, 4 golden eagles. We haven't had a big golden day and our totals are way off this year so it is good to get multiples on any given day. 7 harriers went loping by with 3 gray ghosts in that number. Non-raptor Observations: Plenty of waterfowl and swans are on the move filling the sky at times with nervous flight energy. The channel buoys were removed today and the Bonaparte's and ring-billed were feasting on the fish churned up by the wheel on the tug. An eastern phoebe paid us a visit today in our little denuded maple tree. Hooded mergansers continue to occupy the slip to our left although out of reach of the camera. Tree swallows are still working the lake. Predictions: Be still my beating heart. NE winds with a high barometer and sunny skies? Could we hope for more? We have a chance of a good day tomorrow if the forecast holds. Some of the important details have a habit of changing from day to day so let's hope they got it right this time. ======================================================================== 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