Detroit River Hawk Watch Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Nov 02, 2022 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 92 442 65107 Osprey 0 0 16 Bald Eagle 0 0 65 Northern Harrier 1 2 377 Sharp-shinned Hawk 4 7 5844 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 8 175 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: 105 647 143491 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 08:00:00 Observation end time: 15:00:00 Total observation time: 7 hours Official Counter: Kevin Georg Observers: Andrew Sturgess, Bill Peregord, 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: Salome never dropped her veils today; Lake Erie and the Canadian shore were clothed in a light fog that never fully dispersed. The skies around us, although mostly clear blue overhead, seemed dingy with a smog-like atmosphere. The temperatures were above the sixty-degree mark again so at least it was a comfortable day. Winds settled in the south with a dash of east and grew in strength a little in the late afternoon. The barometer started a slow decline that will bottom out on Saturday with showers a possibility that day. This combination of conditions in the center of a high did not serve us well today as the birds seemed to have turned west well to the north of us. Raptor Observations: A frustrating day on the raptor front as most birds stayed away in droves. We caught occasional glimpses of birds in the distance but this was one of those days. Thanks to a couple of kettles of turkey vultures that streamed in view for a few moments before disappearing into the atmospheric soup, we managed to break the century mark. The TV’s made up 92 of that number. Red-tailed hawks were observed, both solo and accompanying the turkey vultures, totaling 8 birds. Sharp-shinned hawks fluttered by 4 times. A single harrier completed the count today. Non-raptor Observations: One of the few interesting sights today was the occupation of the tree we call Eagle Tree by a group of great blue herons. Six of them stayed in the bare branches for some time. We noted the kingfisher flying behind us for a change. There was an occasional fly-by by an egret or GBH, but today was a test of our mettle to withstand long periods of minimal raptor activity. I like to think that we displayed tenacity and resilience in the face of a daunting challenge but the dispirited looks on our faces and our haste to depart may have betrayed us. Predictions: Tomorrow may be a similar day to today. Temperatures will be almost the same, hopefully, the atmosphere will be clearer. The barometer will continue a slow decline and winds will stay in the southern wedge with an occasional variance from true south. The strength of the wind will start a slow increase that should last for three days, reaching near twenty mph on Saturday when the center of a low will pass. Unfortunately, south is not a good wind direction for our site so we may have to wait until the low passes and the next high moves in to get favorable conditions. Of course, the birds do not read this report so perhaps some of them will grace us with their presence. ======================================================================== 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