Detroit River Hawk Watch Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Nov 11, 2025 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 42 600 90548 Osprey 0 0 29 Bald Eagle 1 16 165 Northern Harrier 0 18 497 Sharp-shinned Hawk 1 38 3982 Cooper's Hawk 0 0 65 American Goshawk 0 0 1 Red-shouldered Hawk 1 26 195 Broad-winged Hawk 0 1 51922 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 1 Red-tailed Hawk 10 203 1245 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 3 Golden Eagle 1 7 42 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: 56 914 149775 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 09:00:00 Observation end time: 16:00:00 Total observation time: 7 hours Official Counter: Jo Patterson Observers: Andrew Sturgess, Bill Peregord, Rosemary Brady 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: “If we make it through December, everything's gonna be all right, I know. It's the coldest time of winter, and I shiver when I see the falling snow” Merle Haggard’s song of hardship and hope became our theme song over the last two days as November finally ushered in a taste of winter to test our resolve. Sinking temperatures, and elevated winds from nonproductive directions, plus a falling barometer, did indeed make us question how long is long enough. The sun did peak through for a brief period, but a gloomy pall descended afterward. It stayed the rest of the watch. Ten mph winds, from west-southwest, then backing to southwest, grew by forty percent to seal the deal. The temperature broke the freezing mark today by three degrees, but the real-feels were ten degrees cooler, perhaps I should say colder. Challenging days, when there is little hope of meaningful counts and chilblains are possible. Raptor Observations: We did manage to find some travelers today in among the multitude of gulls and local eagles. Most of the birds were laying low, flying into a headwind that caused them to stay in the lee of the trees. Forty-two turkey vultures played hide and seek in the tree tops. We were never quite sure that we could see all the lower birds. Ten red-tails worked their way through, our local ones were putting on a kiting show in the afternoon. One was a common number today as it was shared by a red-shouldered hawk, a sharp-shinned hawk, a bald eagle and a golden eagle, who also took the low road today. Unlike their usual dynamic soaring into the stratosphere after they first give hope to the photographers of a close shot, this one foiled us by disappearing below the tree tops Non-raptor Observations: The Bonaparte’s gulls came into the slip early in the morning. We continue to seek a little gull, their sometimes-traveling companion. Vast numbers of scaup are visible from time to time out on the lake as something puts them up, an eagle, or sometimes a passing ship. We did see another small flight of tundra swans today. Mute swans are also flying in small groups. The gulls were very busy today, up in the air migrating back and forth across the sky and forming big kettles at times. Given the poor atmospheric air conditions due to lake evaporation, we wasted a fair amount of time sorting through them is search of raptors. Tree swallows are still hanging around in small groups. Speaking of hanging around, we hope to have seen the last of our reluctant osprey, who stayed with us for a few weeks, but has not been recently seen. Four American crows dared the winds. Predictions: Double digit winds, peaking at fifteen mph from the west-southwest, will lessen our chances tomorrow. The only saving grace is that the winds will raise the temperature a few degrees into the mid-forties. The barometer will rise in the early morning hours, continuing throughout the day. Clouds are forecast to be plentiful, so the day will be very similar to today, with a little more warmth. Hopefully, a few more birds will join the show, but we will not have a cast of thousands. ======================================================================== 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