Detroit River Hawk Watch Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Nov 14, 2020 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 57 1020 72515 Osprey 0 0 31 Bald Eagle 0 9 64 Northern Harrier 2 32 416 Sharp-shinned Hawk 4 113 5034 Cooper's Hawk 3 27 97 Northern Goshawk 0 0 1 Red-shouldered Hawk 24 146 752 Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 16407 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 0 Red-tailed Hawk 169 1319 3933 Rough-legged Hawk 2 10 18 Golden Eagle 1 35 53 American Kestrel 0 2 641 Merlin 1 7 60 Peregrine Falcon 0 7 101 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: 263 2727 100127 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 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: A pleasant enough day to start with blue skies and white frost on the grass, the water in front of us unusually smooth; it looked like a benign late fall day. This changed almost immediately as clouds started to blow in on the increasing winds and by end of day we were asking if it was possible to develop seasonal affective disorder in just one day. The winds grew to eight mph and danced around the S direction, coming at times from either side by just a smidge and raising the waves on that previously smooth water. It ended up bringing wind chill to the site reminding us after the recent record high temperatures that it was indeed November. The barometer dropped about a tenth to 30.15” but it poised to drop off the table later tonight when the wet weather arrives. Raptor Observations: Despite the changing weather, the birds, at times, seemed enthusiastic about moving; perhaps realizing that bad weather was coming and this was a last chance to put some turns on the odometer. Turkey vultures were more numerous today than yesterday with a total of fifty seven. Two harriers were seen traveling together. (Thanks to Michelle for catching them trying to sneak by). Four sharp-shins were noted, with three Cooper’s hawks rounding out the accipiter contingent. One merlin was the only falcon seen. The red-shoulders seemed anxious to move early in the day with twenty four counted but were replaced in the afternoon by all red-tails. The red-tails were our most numerous bird today with one hundred fifty nine counted. Finishing up with the exotics; we had two rough-legged hawks, both light morphs, and one sub-adult golden eagle. Non-raptor Observations: Non raptor activity was light today. Migrating ducks were seen off in the distance but in the dim light they did not stand out. A lone cormorant was seen flying by, getting to be a rare bird since most seem to have departed. A couple of Bonaparte’s gulls were feeding in front of us at day’s end. Predictions: Tomorrow has rain in the forecast and it depends when it clears in order to assess our possible fortunes. The winds are forecast to be high, near thirty mph, with possible gusts up to sixty mph. High wind advisories have been issued. The strong southern winds may bring temperatures up the fifties but we may not be there to enjoy them. Stay tuned. ======================================================================== 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