Detroit River Hawk Watch Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Nov 30, 2019 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 41 4251 52459 Osprey 0 0 35 Bald Eagle 0 23 101 Northern Harrier 0 81 346 Sharp-shinned Hawk 2 290 4147 Cooper's Hawk 2 40 123 Northern Goshawk 0 1 2 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 567 762 Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 64336 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 0 Red-tailed Hawk 46 4096 4954 Rough-legged Hawk 0 12 13 Golden Eagle 2 58 62 American Kestrel 0 5 703 Merlin 1 3 34 Peregrine Falcon 0 7 53 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: 94 9434 128131 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 10:00:00 Observation end time: 14:00:00 Total observation time: 5 hours Official Counter: Kevin Georg Observers: Andrew Sturgess, Don Sherwood, Rosemary Brady Visitors: Two of our most loyal visitors came today to see an end to the season. Michelle and Bill bought their energy and enthusiasm and warmed up the day a little. Not enough mind you; it was a very cold day. Weather: As so we end, not so much with a bang, not so much with a whimper, but a fair to middling day that reminded us that we knew the job was dangerous when we took it. Cold NE winds turned more robust and bent towards the E and stayed in our face off the lake all day long. Temps were in the 30’s (F), real feels in the 20’s, and the extremities felt it. It was another day with cloud cover that grew in intensity, deleting the sun and all effects thereof, it was hard to ID birds in the dark. The barometer stayed above 30”Hg, but barely, after falling a tenth during the shortened day. The rain that had been forecast for an earlier time stayed away. Raptor Observations: The raptor parade began abruptly and ended the same way. The NE winds finally delivered some movement but the window was small and then it closed. Red-tails once again led the way with 46 birds. Only 1 red-shouldered made the trip. 2 golden eagles came across bringing our season total to 62. 41 vultures were seen dallying in the wind wondering where the rest of their flocks had gone. 2 sharp-shins and 2 Cooper's hawks continued the near perfect attendance record for the accipiters, sharpies are seen on almost every day. A surprise merlin was seen harassing the local avian population as our last bird of the season. Non-raptor Observations: Sandhill cranes are still on the move although the numbers were smaller today. The numbers of waterfowl seen in the air, and on the lake especially, were staggering. One scene looked like a murmuration of ducks with tens of thousands on the wing milling about. A fox was seen at the site just behind us. This is the second sighting of a fox in the park recently. Unfortunately, we have not seen our injured herring gull for a few days and we fear the worst. Predictions: Although we will no longer be keeping track of the birds officially, all of us should keep an eye on the sky as migration does not stop when we flip a page on the calendar. It was a real pleasure working with a bunch of special people this year and meeting new visitors who wish to witness one of the miracles of nature. It is a long and difficult slog at times sitting though all kinds of wind and weather conditions for three months but the people you meet and the views of nature make it all worthwhile. Until next year... ======================================================================== 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