Detroit River Hawk Watch (18 Nov 2020) 69 Raptors
Detroit River Hawk Watch
Brownstown, Michigan, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Nov 18, 2020
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total
Black Vulture 0 0 0
Turkey Vulture 8 1049 72564
Osprey 0 0 31
Bald Eagle 1 13 68
Northern Harrier 1 33 417
Sharp-shinned Hawk 1 117 5038
Cooper's Hawk 0 31 101
Northern Goshawk 0 0 1
Red-shouldered Hawk 6 175 786
Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 16407
Swainson's Hawk 0 0 0
Red-tailed Hawk 49 1445 4063
Rough-legged Hawk 2 13 21
Golden Eagle 1 36 54
American Kestrel 0 2 641
Merlin 0 8 61
Peregrine Falcon 0 8 102
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: 69 2930 100359
Observation start time: 09:00:00
Observation end time: 16:00:00
Total observation time: 7 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 rather benign day at the site for the watchers after yesterdayâs fury
as we were safely sheltered from the winds today and the sun was shining.
The center of a high was close by and accordingly the barometric pressure
was high at 30.6â to begin the day. The winds rotated around the center,
starting from the W and ending S, growing in strength and eventually
blowing with enough vigor to send the birds to the north and out of our
sight. The pressure did drop about a tenth from its starting high which may
have been the highest we have seen this season. The winds started at five
mph but grew to double digits, mostly unfelt by us but definitely affecting
the flight.
Raptor Observations:
The morning hours provided some sporadic movement giving us hope, but the
changing winds were not kind to us in the end. We ended with eight turkey
vultures. One sub-adult bald eagle joined the fray. Only one harrier was
seen today. Equaling that number was one sharp-shinned hawk. In the morning
hours we saw some buteos in numbers making us think that they were on the
move but at dayâs end we could only manage six red-shoulders and sixty
one red-tails. Two rough-legged hawks were observed, one of each morph and
one adult golden eagle made its way through in the morning hours.
Non-raptor Observations:
We did see a flight of dunlins fly low over the water today, the first
shorebirds we have seen for some time. Ducks were migrating today well off
in the distance. The gulls were seen in large kettles today off to the
north as were most of the migrants. Bonaparteâs were present but not in
large numbers and a small murder of crows did pass though.
Predictions:
Tomorrow will bring a falling barometer, increasing cloud cover, and an
ever increasing wind from the SW which will bring temps approaching the
high fifties. Hard to see that a wind from the SW approaching nearly twenty
mph will be productive for our site even with fifty percent cloud cover to
make spotting and tracking raptors easier. At least we can drop a couple of
layers from our Michelin Man appearance for a couple of days as warm temps
return on the back of a strong southern wind.
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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