Detroit River Hawk Watch Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Nov 17, 2025 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 7 752 90700 Osprey 0 0 29 Bald Eagle 2 20 169 Northern Harrier 4 28 507 Sharp-shinned Hawk 7 74 4018 Cooper's Hawk 1 3 68 American Goshawk 0 0 1 Red-shouldered Hawk 14 61 230 Broad-winged Hawk 0 1 51922 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 1 Red-tailed Hawk 65 432 1474 Rough-legged Hawk 0 1 4 Golden Eagle 2 18 53 American Kestrel 0 0 964 Merlin 0 4 54 Peregrine Falcon 0 3 48 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: 102 1398 150259 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 09:00:00 Observation end time: 16:00:00 Total observation time: 7 hours Official Counter: Jo Patterson Observers: Andrew Sturgess, Don Sherwood, Jerry Jourdan, Johannes Postma, 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: The wind was a little better behaved today. It did race up to fifteen mph, emanating from a mostly western direction with a few slight variations thrown in for good measure. It was enough to keep the birds at arm’s length, as most were scope birds today, with only a few daring to come close. The sky was a high-pressure sky with a blue dome with minor convection clouds low on the perimeter. The temperature peaked at forty-five degrees, but wind chill took its toll on that figure. The barometer had some sine wave action going on, rising early, and falling late. It will do the same tomorrow as some potentially flaky precipitation may occur. Raptor Observations: Red-tails are making an effort to correct the deficit we are seeing this year. It’s hard to say whether climate change is causing these birds to “short stop” and not move as far south, or whether we are simply having a bad November in regards to winds. We did see sixty-five of them today, sometimes in their familiar kettles with other species. One of those other species being the red-shouldered hawk, a similar looking bird from long distance but with different flight habits that help to distinguish it from the tails. They sent fourteen of their membership south today. Sharp-shins and turkey vultures shared the bronze today with seven of each counted. Four northern harriers weaved their way through the vigorous winds, taking erratic paths as if trying to shake surveillance. The eagles were well matched today with a pair of both golden and bald eagle. A single Cooper’s hawk was observed. Non-raptor Observations: The sandhill cranes were moving today. We saw a few groups, the largest two flights numbered twenty and twenty-five birds. Long strings of ducks were seen in the distance as their migration is in full swing. A Carolina wren keeps practicing his repertoire for the upcoming recital. Great blue herons have become frequent flyers in the last couple of weeks. The great egrets are not as common since the marsh has little water right now. The ring-bills and herring gulls were up kettling together today, but the Bonaparte’s were in more sheltered waters. The crows were on the move early, but only three hundred and eighteen were counted as the movement fizzled out. Predictions: Tomorrow is a little hard to predict. The winds are forecast to be very low, which usually means variable as far as direction goes. The barometer will rise in the early hours of the day, but lose almost a tenth of an inch in a midday dip. There are rain/snow showers in the forecast right now, but whether they actually show up, or not, is anybody’s guess. Cloud cover will be complete for most of the day, and it will be cold, only reaching the upper thirties. There is a chance that the watch may be interrupted by the precipitation. The low variable winds may not provide much lift for the migrants so with the negatives appearing to outweigh the positives, as forecast right now, it should be a low traffic day. ======================================================================== 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