Detroit River Hawk Watch Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Nov 04, 2025 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 14 198 90146 Osprey 0 0 29 Bald Eagle 0 5 154 Northern Harrier 1 7 486 Sharp-shinned Hawk 9 21 3965 Cooper's Hawk 0 0 65 American Goshawk 0 0 1 Red-shouldered Hawk 2 10 179 Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 51921 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 1 Red-tailed Hawk 12 53 1095 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 3 Golden Eagle 0 4 39 American Kestrel 0 0 964 Merlin 1 1 51 Peregrine Falcon 0 0 45 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: 39 300 149161 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 09:00:00 Observation end time: 16:00:00 Total observation time: 7 hours Official Counter: Jo Patterson Observers: Andrew Sturgess, Johannes Postma 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 tears of the world are a constant quantity. For each one who begins to weep, somewhere else another stops.” We staged our own production of Waiting for Godot today, the raptors playing the part of Godot, who, with few exceptions, did not show. The southwest wind was not as vigorous as yesterday, but still managed a fifteen-mph peak before subsiding a little in the afternoon. It is the wind of death for our site, and so it was today. The winds were driving an interesting mix of altocumulus clouds that filled in during the day, leaving us with long thin striations that were aligned with the direction of the wind. The color changed from bright white to a darker tint as the sun sank lower and its rays were blocked by the cloud formations behind us. The temperature reached sixty-degrees, but being comfortable is of little value to us, we want raptors to count. The barometer started to drop as tomorrow will be another horror show, with winds approaching twenty-five mph from the same direction. There will be more tears. Raptor Observations: Most of our November counts show thousands of birds, but normally, a lot of them are turkey vultures at the beginning of the month as they wind down their migration. This year, they may have finished a little early, although the November winds have not been kind to us and may not reflect a true count of migrating vultures. They still retained the crown today, but with only fourteen birds, nothing to brag about. The red-tails gave them a run for the money, but fell short with twelve of them noted. Nine sharpies were in the race, but were the second loser in the end. Two red-shoulders came by to say Hi. Only one harrier made it through, passing by out over the lake. One hungry merlin made a brief stop. Non-raptor Observations: There was little activity around us for most of the day. We did see some Forster’s terns, but not for very long. There were a lot of gulls in the air today, most seemed to be the immature, dark gulls that hawk counters learn to dislike. They look like raptors till you get the glass on them. At the end of the day, a huge number of gulls by the Celeron Island jetty took off, as if spooked by an eagle, and in with the mass of gulls were three pelicans. Their first appearance in a few days. The crows seemed ready to have a big day with eight hundred and forty-seven showing up, but most were in one large group. The water was back in the slip in the morning, but started to migrate out again in the afternoon, tomorrow’s high winds should really move it north. Lake Erie is like a bathtub, sloshing water back and forth, so we see daily variations in the depth. Predictions: Do you want the good news first, or the bad news? Trick question, there is no good news. Mostly southwest winds at sixteen mph to start, climbing to twenty-three mph at the end, a plummeting barometer, lots of clouds, and a slight chance of showers means that we will probably curtail the watch early. The temperature should reach sixty-one but that is little solace to offset an empty sky. ======================================================================== 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