Detroit River Hawk Watch Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Nov 03, 2022 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 1 443 65108 Osprey 0 0 16 Bald Eagle 0 0 65 Northern Harrier 0 2 377 Sharp-shinned Hawk 1 8 5845 Cooper's Hawk 0 1 68 Northern Goshawk 0 0 1 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 18 351 Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 67350 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 0 Red-tailed Hawk 0 175 3184 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 0 Golden Eagle 0 1 18 American Kestrel 0 0 981 Merlin 0 1 69 Peregrine Falcon 0 0 60 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: 2 649 143493 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 08:00:00 Observation end time: 15:00:00 Total observation time: 6.5 hours Official Counter: Kevin Georg Observers: Andrew Sturgess, Don Sherwood, Erika Van Kirk, Rosemary Brady, Sarah deGuise 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: Never think that things can’t get worse…they can. The atmospheric conditions from yesterday replicated themselves today. Think Bubble Boy in a dirty bubble. Dense fog covered parts of the metropolitan area this morning, and although it lifted in most areas, our site was surrounded by an impenetrable haze all day long. Toss in some unfavorable winds from the south and you have a recipe for futility. The winds varied in strength but the general trend was up, by the end of the day it was near ten mph. This was strong enough to push birds to the north and the haze kept any outliers from our sight. Temperatures reached the sixty-degree mark so the day was pleasant in a comfort sense, but very unpleasant to people who want to count raptors. The barometer is falling slowly and perhaps tomorrow will finally clear us of this stagnant bird-less void that we have been stuck in. Raptor Observations: Two birds, one sharpie and one turkey vulture. The only redeeming factor was that the sharpie came back out from behind us and did a few pirouettes above us to have his Facebook fame ensured. Non-raptor Observations: The Bonaparte’s gulls gave us some entertainment today as they searched the waters in front of us for minnow-sized prey. Great blue herons appear to be restless as we see more of them taking to the air for a slow, stately cruise. Crows were not too plentiful today but a couple of murders of about fifty apiece came by. A red-bellied woodpecker was his usual noisy self behind us. We heard the call of a sandhill crane but did not see one. The pelicans were reported to be on their way north from the southern end of the park but they never quite made it either. The ships coming out of the Livingstone Channel were barely visible in the lake fog, only the white superstructure and steam from the exhaust scrubbers called attention to the passing of the M/V James R. Barker, the 1000-foot-long dark hull virtually unseen. Predictions: Clouds will increase tomorrow as part of the system that may bring rain to the area on Saturday. I suspect our fortunes may improve on the backside of this system but we have to endure increasing southerly winds both tomorrow and on Saturday when twenty mph is predicted. The barometer will be falling until Saturday night when the rain passes. On both days, temperatures will rise on the back on the southern winds to the upper sixties. Not much to look forward to except the atmospheric change from the last couple of days and hopefully a change of fortune. ======================================================================== 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