Detroit River Hawk Watch Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Nov 09, 2021 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 133 3691 59494 Osprey 0 0 24 Bald Eagle 0 9 76 Northern Harrier 1 11 364 Sharp-shinned Hawk 5 108 6492 Cooper's Hawk 0 2 41 Northern Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 14 94 412 Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 21973 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 0 Red-tailed Hawk 63 1163 2778 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 1 Golden Eagle 2 29 44 American Kestrel 0 0 1068 Merlin 1 9 58 Peregrine Falcon 1 3 59 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: 220 5119 92885 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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, Erika Van Kirk, Rosemary Brady Visitors: We are still dealing with the residue of the Covid 19 situation. The workers at the site will be in an enclosed area that is designed for four people only. We still love to interact and share our love of hawk watching with visitors. Feel free to ask questions and look over our shoulders to help you follow the birds. Watch the weather for favorable forecasts as the birds are predictable to some degree based on weather situations. One other thing of note this year; the boat-launch bathroom building has been shut down for the foreseeable future due to plumbing issues. There are Porta-Johns in the parking lot should you require them. Weather: “Breathe deep the gathering gloom, watch lights fade from every room” was today’s theme. We watched a wall of cloud slowly approach for most of the morning hours as we are apparently under a stationary front. Once the altostratus blanket took up its station over us it obliterated the sun, darkening the area considerably. Those lights regulated by photocells lit up, including the aircraft warning lights on the stacks. It was like we had set back the clocks two hours instead of one. Winds were fairly light from a pleasing direction of mostly NE, usually a productive wind for raptors. Temperatures climbed to the high fifties but with the wind in our faces and not even a hint of where the sun might be, it felt somewhat less than that. The barometer stayed above thirty inches but once again, tailed off at day’s end. Raptor Observations: No one told them when to run, they missed the starting gun, thanks to the Moody Blues and Pink Floyd for today’s themes. Zero birds in the first hour and then we followed a familiar pattern of a few productive hours before the flight shut down. The winds did help us increase our numbers today compared to yesterday. Turkey vultures did the heavy lifting with one hundred and thirty-three coming through in larger groups than we have seen recently. Next in line with sixty-three was the red-tailed hawks who were on the move today. They slowed as the day turned to virtual night. The red-tails had some red-shoulders peppered among them with fourteen being observed. One late northern harrier was noted, the last bird of the day. Falcons had two representatives today with one peregrine and one merlin. We continued our streak of golden eagles with two today, one subadult with a beautiful pattern that it did not come close enough to share with us on film; the other an adult bird that did come close, but by then it was a five-stop day with little light. Non-raptor Observations: Crows were on the move in the morning hours with over eleven hundred noted. Some large flocks of starlings were observed close to us. It may be an irruption year for them since we are consistently seeing large murmurations. The gulls were up hawking again, making a nuisance of themselves in the semi-fog gloom as they impersonated raptors. A dunlin was noted in the Metropark creating a stir among those who lacked it as a county bird. The perch fishermen were out in force today and seemed to be doing well. Predictions: The wind should turn from NE to a more easterly direction when the watch commences. The strength will remain around five mph, give or take. Although the current clouds will pass, another band will take their place, possibly allowing a little light to reach us. The barometer will climb again in a last hurrah before plunging on Thursday. Temperatures will hit the fifties but only in the lower range. Given the past few day’s results, I would expect similar results with some movement in the middle of the day tailing off at the end of the watch. ======================================================================== 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-2021