Detroit River Hawk Watch Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Nov 11, 2022 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 0 920 65585 Osprey 0 0 16 Bald Eagle 1 4 69 Northern Harrier 0 8 383 Sharp-shinned Hawk 0 27 5864 Cooper's Hawk 1 10 77 Northern Goshawk 0 0 1 Red-shouldered Hawk 1 85 418 Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 67350 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 0 Red-tailed Hawk 0 490 3499 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 7 24 American Kestrel 0 0 981 Merlin 1 7 75 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: 4 1560 144404 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 09:00:00 Observation end time: 15:00:00 Total observation time: 6 hours Official Counter: Kevin Georg Observers: Andrew Sturgess, Don Sherwood, Frank Kitakis 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: Today we rubbed shoulders with the remains of Nicole as she wound her way north. As dramatic as that sounds it was the same ole, same ole; the rain that was predicted skirted us, no doubt thoroughly soaking parts of the eastern states. The Fermi II Dome that protects us from precipitation worked its magic again. It may as well have rained since the birds gave a wide berth to the area, except for a few confused individuals. The southern winds were mild at less than 5 mph but still managed to raise the temperature up to sixty-degrees. The barometer was dropping and bottomed out at 29.64 inches but it will start a gradual rise tomorrow lasting until Monday. The wind strength will also rise tomorrow and come out of the northwest; the temperature will have an inverse relationship as it will fall about twenty degrees from today’s high. Raptor Observations: The count today was like the Grinch’s heart, a couple of sizes too small. We managed to count four birds; one each of merlin, Cooper’s hawk, bald eagle and a juvie red-shouldered hawk. It was a very still day for the most part with little hope of improvement so the watch was called an hour early. Non-raptor Observations: Our red-bellied woodpecker was busy today stocking his larder, flying back and forth to Gibraltar. A few crows were noted but some of them were flying back in the direction they came from. The great blue herons are still flying by in groups of five or so. Our Boney’s are still working the waters and today the other end of the gull size-scale was noted with a great black-backed gull out by the jetty. In general, the gull population seems down, but they are probably gathering together elsewhere. A common loon was seen flying towards Lake Erie this morning. Predictions: The wind should begin to rise this evening, approaching the fifteen-mph range and turning to a northwesterly direction. Tomorrow during the day, it will be around ten mph, or a little less as the day progresses. The temperature is predicted to top out at forty-degrees but will feel about five degrees cooler. There is a chance of rain but it is only about twenty-five percent, so bring your umbrellas. Cloud cover will be near complete. There should be more activity tomorrow but sometimes if heavy cloud cover still remains the birds may wait till Sunday when the winds will remain NW and the sun should be out. ======================================================================== 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