Detroit River Hawk Watch Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Nov 26, 2022 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 1 1010 65803 Osprey 0 0 16 Bald Eagle 3 16 82 Northern Harrier 2 18 393 Sharp-shinned Hawk 3 46 5883 Cooper's Hawk 1 20 87 Northern Goshawk 0 1 2 Red-shouldered Hawk 5 140 473 Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 67350 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 0 Red-tailed Hawk 29 1281 4290 Rough-legged Hawk 0 4 4 Golden Eagle 1 23 40 American Kestrel 0 0 981 Merlin 2 11 79 Peregrine Falcon 0 2 62 Unknown Accipiter 0 0 0 Unknown Buteo 0 0 0 Unknown Falcon 0 0 0 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 0 0 0 Total: 47 2572 145545 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 09:00:00 Observation end time: 16:00:00 Total observation time: 6.5 hours Official Counter: Kevin Georg Observers: Andrew Sturgess, Bill Peregord, Don Sherwood, Michelle Peregord, Sarah deGuise Visitors: We are located by the boat launch in Lake Erie Metropark in a fenced off area at the Hawk Watch site. This does not mean that we do not welcome interaction with any and all visitors. We enjoy talking about what we do and sharing our knowledge with beginners and experts alike. Please feel free to come up and talk to us. We usually have our backs turned to the parking lot as we scan the skies in front of us. This should not be interpreted as a sign of reluctance to engage; this is how we do our job. We have friendly people that do not bite and the welcome mat is always out. Weather: True to predictions, the wind turned SW today and increased into double digit speed as the day progressed. The skies around us stayed blue, although the morning hours saw considerable haze, obscuring our view of the Canadian shore. This was not a significant issue since the wind moved nearly all the birds to the north of us. Given the fact that tomorrow is supposed to be a rain day, it was curious that we saw no early indicators of imminent rain such as the wispy cirrus clouds that usually precede precipitation. It was only as we left that the southern sky showed clouds approaching low on the horizon. The barometer was falling and dropped below the thirty-inch mark on its way to a predicted twenty-nine and three tenths during the rain event. Raptor Observations: Another day in which the time slot for raptor movement seemed to be limited to about two hours long. During that time, we managed to put 47 notches in our belt. Red-tailed hawks accounted for 29 of those notches. A distant second came their buteo cousins, the red-shouldered hawks with 5 birds counted. Bald eagles and sharp-shins shared third place with 3 apiece. Northern harriers and merlins had a pair each. A single Cooper’s hawk was counted. The only bird that actually flew right over us, a golden eagle, was the lone representative of its species. Non-raptor Observations: We had a gratifying day on the non-raptor front. We have a very large flock of Bonaparte’s gulls that have taken up residence on the waters in front of us. One of them is not like the others and is, in fact, a little gull. We have become tour guides of sorts for the faithful that have undertaken the hajj to see this bird. It has proven to be a very cooperative bird, providing plentiful photo opportunities for those so inclined. This being Saturday, it gave some matinee performances. It does give us a certain amount of satisfaction to help visitors find this bird, or later today for instance, show someone a lifer golden eagle. We are past the OMG! part of the season where someone finally locates an elusive kettle of broadwings for the first time, but sometimes the little things are just as rewarding. Predictions: It seems that we may get another day off tomorrow, if the predictions are accurate. I have developed a healthy skepticism for the rain forecasts from Weather Underground but I do see a green mass on the radar headed our way. If we do have a day of rest, it should be more relaxing because we know the Lions can’t lose tomorrow, having pre-lost on Thursday. ======================================================================== 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-2022