Tomorrow is the forty

Detroit River Hawk Watch Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Nov 09, 2020 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 2 671 72164 Osprey 0 0 31 Bald Eagle 1 4 59 Northern Harrier 2 25 409 Sharp-shinned Hawk 12 72 4993 Cooper's Hawk 3 13 83 Northern Goshawk 0 0 1 Red-shouldered Hawk 4 84 690 Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 16407 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 0 Red-tailed Hawk 48 403 3017 Rough-legged Hawk 0 3 11 Golden Eagle 0 22 40 American Kestrel 1 2 641 Merlin 1 5 58 Peregrine Falcon 0 2 96 Unknown Accipiter 0 0 0 Unknown Buteo 0 0 2 Unknown Falcon 0 0 1 Unknown Eagle 0 0 1 Unknown Raptor 0 0 0 Total: 74 1306 98704 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 09:00:00 Observation end time: 15:30:00 Total observation time: 6.5 hours Official Counter: Kevin Georg Observers: Andrew Sturgess, Don Sherwood Visitors: While Lake Erie Metropark is currently open to the public, for the safety of our counter and volunteers we encourage visitors to follow along with the count virtually on HawkCount.org, or our Detroit River Hawk Watch Facebook page. There will be daily updates and photographs.If you do decide to join us in person, please help the counter and volunteers to follow their mandated safety protocols by refraining from approaching them. Please follow the recommended Covid 19 procedures by wearing a mask and maintaining a safe social distance. Thanking you in advance for your cooperation. Stay safe! Weather: The beat goes on. Another day of sun and southern winds, although this morning the sky that greeted us was half filled with altocumulus clouds that resembled the small island-like patterns left in swales at the beach when the tide has receded. The clouds gradually cleared and left us with the traditional November clear blue sky, or what has become the new traditional November sky this year, in normal years it is leaden gray and overcast hinting strongly that winter is coming. Winds stayed near the south although we detected an eastern shift in the wind turbines that the weather apps did not agree with. The winds were never strong but eased in mid-afternoon to about three mph before rising again. The barometer started at 30.3” and fell about a tenth and a half as we approach the back side of the high. Raptor Observations: We are starting to think that the raptors are intentionally avoiding us, going miles out of their way in a horizontal great circle route but giving us distant peeks at them when they are obscured by the thermal haze created by the temperature difference between lake and air. Or perhaps we are losing our grip on reality from being sunburned in November. Whatever the case, we won’t be talking about this day in the annals of history of this site. A grand total of two turkey vultures were counted. Two harriers were also noted. Twelve sharp-shins and three Cooper’s hawks passed through. One bald eagle, a sub-adult was seen but alas, no goldens today. We had a feeling the buteos were flying today but that we were on the edge of a larger movement and that the flight line they were taking did not include our site. Most of the birds were moving east to west in the morning hours but we seemed to lose them later as has been the case the last few days. We did managed to count four red-shoulders and forty eight red-tails despite having very few of them close to us. A rare kestrel was noted, and one merlin stole the show by capturing a swallow, that was not paying enough attention, in flight. Non-raptor Observations: The flight of passerines and crows was not significant today although they did pass though in small numbers. Starlings were helpful at times as they form escort groups above the accipiters showing us where to look. A few Bonaparte’s gulls were working the waters but spent a lot of time swimming on top of them. Some migrating duck strings were seen off to the east. Predictions: Tomorrow will finally bring a low pressure system to our neighborhood. The barometer will drop and cloud cover will increase with rain predicted late at night. This is a welcome change as the next cold front, the high temperature will drop twenty degrees between Tuesday and Wednesday, comes through. The temperature drop will be from seventy two F to fifty two as we may break a record on Tuesday, as we have for the past three days in the Detroit area. Winds will increase into double digit strength throughout the day from, (where else?) the south. The strength may blow the birds too far north for us to see but with the unusual flight lines we have seen lately we may see some birds flying below the winds. Tomorrow is the forty fifth anniversary of the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald. I would respectfully ask that you spare a brief moment of reflection to think of those lost souls. ======================================================================== Report submitted by Kevin Georg (kevin.l.georg@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