Detroit River Hawk Watch Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Nov 12, 2025 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 11 611 90559 Osprey 0 0 29 Bald Eagle 1 17 166 Northern Harrier 0 18 497 Sharp-shinned Hawk 0 38 3982 Cooper's Hawk 0 0 65 American Goshawk 0 0 1 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 26 195 Broad-winged Hawk 0 1 51922 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 1 Red-tailed Hawk 1 204 1246 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 3 Golden Eagle 2 9 44 American Kestrel 0 0 964 Merlin 0 2 52 Peregrine Falcon 0 2 47 Unknown Accipitrine 0 0 1 Unknown Buteo 0 0 3 Unknown Falcon 0 0 3 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 0 1 10 Total: 15 929 149790 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 09:00:00 Observation end time: 16:00:00 Total observation time: 7 hours Official Counter: Jo Patterson Observers: Andrew Sturgess Visitors: We welcome visitors to our site as we are eager to share the joys of hawk watching with one and all. Although there may be times in which we are all very busy and need alone-time to concentrate, those are the times that are most enjoyable for visitors as the skies are filled with migrating raptors. Weather: A series of snapshots of the sky, taken today, would make you think we had a fortnight’s worth of weather in one day. Pleasant looking during early times, with stationary high altocumulus clouds being the main occupant, a lower strata of cumulus clouds soon rushed in ranging from Serta sheep to Darth Vader in color and threat perception. We never got any precipitation from the squall clouds that blew through, dividing the sky into evil on one side and good on the other. It was an interesting collage of disorder in motion. The motion was provoked by an insistent southwest wind that veered to a more western direction near the end of the day. Starting at a healthy seventeen mph and peaking at twenty-one, it was not a bountiful wind as far as raptors go. The temperature hit fifty-degrees today with most of the wind behind us, so at least it felt more comfortable than the last two days. The barometer was gradually climbing, as it will for the next couple of days. Raptor Observations: Good ole turkey vultures helped push us out of single digits near the end of the day. Eleven of them showed up, staying low, like most of the birds today. The next step on the podium was earned by two golden eagles that flew by together in the early afternoon. One red-tailed hawk and one bald eagle completed the count. Given that most of the birds today were hugging the tree tops due to the turbulent wind, it’s possible that we missed a few, but a strong southwest wind never produces for our site. Non-raptor Observations: At one time, the slip in front of us was completely empty of birds, not a common sight. We eventually saw some Bonaparte’s gulls getting tossed around by the wind. A pair of loons were seen bobbing on the lake waves this morning. We are seeing more flights of tundra swans, although they were flying low today. Usually, we see them on crisp cold days high aloft, hearing their calls to alert us to their presence. A peregrine falcon, which we think is a temporary resident, was very hungry this morning. It was diving repeatedly just behind the jetty, but no birds took off, and we think it may have been fishing, as they are known to do. It later moved over the trees closer to us and made a couple of unsuccessful stoops. As we watched this bird, we realized that in the same field of view was a bald eagle diving on a golden eagle. Thank you, peregrine. The ducks out on the lake are there in significant numbers, resembling starling murmurations at times. Hurst Marine removed the buoys from the boat launch area today. The water was low again due to the wind and some outboards were stirring up the mud again. Tree swallows were observed and a Carolina wren serenaded us. Predictions: It looks like the wind will stay in the west for a couple of days. It will still be fairly robust tomorrow, near ten mph, either a little below, or above. Friday may be one of those variable direction days as the strength is forecast near five mph. Temperatures tomorrow should be almost as warm as today. The barometer will show that a new high is coming in, bringing sunny skies with no cloud predicted. Hopefully, some of the raptors will find this headwind a little less onerous than today and decide to work their way over to our site. ======================================================================== 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