Detroit River Hawk Watch Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Nov 17, 2022 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 0 1004 65797 Osprey 0 0 16 Bald Eagle 0 8 73 Northern Harrier 0 15 390 Sharp-shinned Hawk 1 34 5871 Cooper's Hawk 0 13 80 Northern Goshawk 0 1 2 Red-shouldered Hawk 1 116 449 Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 67350 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 0 Red-tailed Hawk 14 1163 4172 Rough-legged Hawk 0 1 1 Golden Eagle 0 12 29 American Kestrel 0 0 981 Merlin 0 7 75 Peregrine Falcon 0 2 62 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: 16 2376 145348 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 09:00:00 Observation end time: 15:00:00 Total observation time: 6 hours Official Counter: Kevin Georg Observers: Andrew Sturgess, Bill Peregord, Don Sherwood, Erika Van Kirk 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: A little while back, I asked the question “November, where is thy sting?” In the immortal words of Roseanne Roseannadanna: “Never mind.” November has shed its sheep’s clothing and the wolf is loose. Today got off to a fairly cold but tolerable start. There was some raptor traffic while the skies were relatively clear, but looming off to the west was a fast-approaching mass of dull grey stratus clouds bearing snow. The wind eventually rose from six to nineteen mph making for an uncomfortable afternoon with little to show for it. Temperatures were barely above the freezing mark and the real-feels were five degrees below that mark. The winds came from a mostly W direction with an afternoon shift to WSW when the speed picked up. This wind is at our back so it could have been worse. This increase in speed and directional shift did seem to blow the birds further to the north and with restricted visibility due to falling snow and hazy cloud cover the cupboard was bare. Raptor Observations: We did manage to see a few red-tailed hawks early, including one special one which flew right over us as we were explaining the hawk watch to first time visitors. I love it when a plan comes together. We totaled 14 today. A single red-shouldered hawk also flew by in the morning hours. One sharp-shinned hawk made its way across the lake before the snow hit. This closed down the movement for the rest of the day although hope springs eternal and we sat it out for a couple more hours. Non-raptor Observations: We saw some flights of goldfinches today bounding along in their undulating flight. Gulls were very common today as they flew most of the day, moving back and forth to different locations as it they were doing mini-migrations. Our Bonaparte’s seem to be about forty strong now. The local bald eagle seemed to enjoy the turbulent winds. Otherwise, a quiet day, which was not surprising given the snowy weather. Predictions: Not a lot of promise in tomorrow’s forecast. The same WSW winds, with higher speeds in the fifteen to twenty mph range would lead us to expect the same results. It should be cloudy, but without the snow. The barometer will dance just above the thirty-inch mark but the forecasts show a bumpy ride coming over the next few days, although always above thirty inches. Temperatures will be at the freezing mark, or close to it, with real-feels around the twenty-degree mark. Oh joy! ======================================================================== 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