Detroit River Hawk Watch Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Nov 29, 2021 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 0 4110 59913 Osprey 0 2 26 Bald Eagle 0 14 81 Northern Harrier 1 27 380 Sharp-shinned Hawk 7 171 6575 Cooper's Hawk 2 13 52 Northern Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 6 177 495 Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 21973 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 0 Red-tailed Hawk 21 2020 3635 Rough-legged Hawk 0 3 4 Golden Eagle 0 46 61 American Kestrel 0 0 1068 Merlin 0 18 67 Peregrine Falcon 0 14 70 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: 37 6615 94401 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 09:00:00 Observation end time: 15:00:00 Total observation time: 6 hours Official Counter: Kevin Georg Observers: Alex Gilford, Andrew Sturgess, Rosemary Brady Visitors: Last chance to visit is tomorrow! Weather: On this, the penultimate day of the season’s watch, there seemed to be a little window of opportunity between snow events that the birds might use to head to warmer climes. The sky was blue, daubed with high ice crystal clouds of a delicate nature. They foretold the snow that will arrive later tonight. A sundog made a brief appearance adding to the certainty that precipitation was coming. Winds came from the west at first but worked their way around to SSW after a brief lull. Until midday the strength was in the five to six mph range but after the shift to a less favorable direction, they increased up to ten mph. The clouds began to fill in gradually until at times there was near complete stratus cloud cover, only for that to retreat and a sunnier vista with a mix of cirrus and cumulus to take its place. Another case of if you don’t like the weather, wait…. etc. etc. The temperatures rose to the high thirties making the wet snow covering the ground even wetter. It should be covered with a fresh coat tonight. The barometer was steady early but dipped later as the inclement weather neared. Raptor Observations: We did get a few takers today. They followed the usual pattern of recent flights with activity starting around ten thirty and stopping in the early afternoon. Red-tailed hawks led the way with twenty-one negotiating the passage. Seven sharp-shinned hawks showed us their heels. Two Cooper’s hawks flew by. One northern harrier, our last bird of the day, made an appearance. Most of the flight was to the north, even with the early western winds, but when the winds went SW, it may have moved the birds out of sight. Non-raptor Observations: Today started off with eight mute swans, two adults and six first year birds, full sized but still wearing some dark smudges, arriving in single file, beak to tail, as they have been doing since birth. The water was low today so they were feeding in a place that is normally too deep for them. A great black-backed gull was seen taking part in the aerial maneuvers that the gulls were doing today. A high flight of very white tundra swans flew by when the sky was blue, making them stand out very well. A single sandhill crane flew past the stacks. A fairly large group of pigeons was noted circling around the stacks for a few minutes trying to get their bearings before racing home. A flight of common mergansers was one of the few of many migrating duck flights that could seen today, most too far away to ID. A few small crow flights passed today. Predictions: Assuming that the snow event clears as predicted, the weather tomorrow might resemble this morning’s; sunny to start with increasing cloud cover as the day progresses. The barometer will be trending up after the dip for the precipitation. Winds will be NW to start, but gradually take on a more western flavor as they climb up to ten mph in the afternoon. If luck is with us, we should see a moderate number of birds as we did today. ======================================================================== 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