Detroit River Hawk Watch Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Nov 06, 2022 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 48 497 65162 Osprey 0 0 16 Bald Eagle 1 1 66 Northern Harrier 3 5 380 Sharp-shinned Hawk 2 10 5847 Cooper's Hawk 0 1 68 Northern Goshawk 0 0 1 Red-shouldered Hawk 1 19 352 Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 67350 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 0 Red-tailed Hawk 12 190 3199 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 2 19 American Kestrel 0 0 981 Merlin 2 4 72 Peregrine Falcon 0 1 61 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: 69 730 143574 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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, Don Sherwood, Michelle Peregord 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: At least the last day of southern winds for a little while was an attractive day. A procession of icy cirrus clouds sculpted by the winds into aesthetically pleasing designs in an azure setting was fascinating to watch. Closely followed by cirrocumulus clouds that made bright white polka dot patterns high in the sky; the change of systems from a low that had anger management issues to a benign high-pressure zone with clear blue skies was pleasing. It meant that our fortunes might be changing too. The wind today was fairly stable in both direction and strength. Starting south but easing slightly west it remained in the 10 to 15 mph range, after the gale of early November that came raging through last night, it seemed a mere zephyr. To us that is, to the birds it was still a force to be reckoned with. Most chose to alter course to the north of us again leaving us with some sightings but not enough to keep us busy. The temperature rose to the sixty-three-degree mark. The barometer worked its way above 30” but in the afternoon hours a slight setback resulted in a final reading just below that number. Raptor Observations: Well, at least we reached double digits. That was an improvement over recent counts under the influence of the never-ending southern winds. Turkey vultures led the way, coming in small groups and totaling 48 birds at day’s end. Red-tailed hawks seemed to meander through in the face of a headwind, taking their time to advance, a dozen of them were noted. Three northern harriers were observed, two traveling together. Two sharpies flew by, one crabbing into the wind, pointing in one direction but vectoring in another. A single red-shouldered hawk was seen early in the morning. A pair of merlins were spotted, one early and one late. A single bald eagle was counted today. Non-raptor Observations: Fairly quiet day on the non-raptor stage. Bonaparte’s gulls once again were the main distraction. Crows were seen early in the morning but in hundreds, not thousands. Rusty blackbirds were heard behind us. The air was filled with phragmite seeds today, compliments of the winds. Let’s hope they all fail to germinate. A few butterflies were noted today but none of them were monarchs. The warm temperatures seen to awaken the insect population; I had to be careful with my camera as a hornet took up residence on the lens hood. Predictions: Temperatures are going down; the barometer is going up. Both of those things usually indicate the leading edge of a high with northern winds and that usually means more traffic for hawk counters. The winds will be WNW to start and end in the NW. The predicted strength will be around the ten-mph range which might be a little too robust for our site but good for our Canadian colleagues. Skies should be sunny, but the temperature will only reach the mid-fifties so layer accordingly. ======================================================================== 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