Detroit River Hawk Watch Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Nov 27, 2020 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 0 1070 72585 Osprey 0 0 31 Bald Eagle 0 17 72 Northern Harrier 0 36 420 Sharp-shinned Hawk 0 125 5046 Cooper's Hawk 0 34 104 Northern Goshawk 0 1 2 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 204 815 Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 16407 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 0 Red-tailed Hawk 2 1592 4210 Rough-legged Hawk 0 18 26 Golden Eagle 0 37 55 American Kestrel 0 2 641 Merlin 2 12 65 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: 4 3156 100585 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 09:00:00 Observation end time: 14:30:00 Total observation time: 5.5 hours Official Counter: Observers: Andrew Sturgess, Don Sherwood, Michala Burke, Rosemary Brady 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 day that looked to be a gateway to a better tomorrow with the promise of sunshine to come failed in the end to fulfill its modest goal. Winds were from the SSW and SW, reaching 10 mph before falling, but in our sheltered location they were mostly unfelt. The barometer started at 30.11” but as the afternoon progressed it dropped and what was once a near solid cloud deck starting to show a few blue seams became a darker, gloomier sky; dark enough to turn on the blinking red aircraft lights on the stacks. Although late clearing had been promised, we were seeing the opposite with rain looking possible. It seemed prudent to run away. Raptor Observations: The raptors were not fooled by the forecast and stayed away in droves. Maybe they were moving to the north of us but the dense clouds and falling barometer was not inviting. We ended with four birds on the day, two red-tailed hawks and two merlins. The merlins put on a show for us with one catching and devouring a bird of undetermined heritage before chasing each other for a few moments. None of this occurred in camera range unfortunately. Non-raptor Observations: It was fairly quiet on the non-raptor front, although many ducks were seen on the move in the distance. A few Bonaparte’s gulls were flying around and one in particular caught our eye as it seemed to repeatedly dive on a soaring red-tailed hawk. We have seen a fair amount of gull aggression this season, mostly from the ring-bills diving on red-shouldered hawks as they passed by. Red-shoulders are a smaller hawk but why they are frequently targeted remains unknown. It seemed out of character for a Boney to dive on anything, especially a much larger raptor, but the avian world is a violent place where only the strong, or nimble, survive. We did see a common loon flying nearby again. Small flocks of goldfinches also passed over. Predictions: Fool me twice, shame on me. The forecast seems to indicate that tomorrow will be a sunny day with a gradually rising barometer. Winds will be from the W to begin, in the mid single digits but rising to low double digits and shifting to a more southerly direction. Perhaps not the best of forecasts but given the end of the season is nigh upon us it may be our best shot at redemption. There is bad weather on the way and Sunday will start to foretell the advancing mass with increasing clouds and a falling barometer. Monday, the last day of the count, does not look promising at all with rain and snow lasting through Tuesday. ======================================================================== 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