Detroit River Hawk Watch Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Nov 05, 2025 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 0 200 90148 Osprey 0 0 29 Bald Eagle 0 5 154 Northern Harrier 1 8 487 Sharp-shinned Hawk 0 21 3965 Cooper's Hawk 0 0 65 American Goshawk 0 0 1 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 10 179 Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 51921 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 1 Red-tailed Hawk 0 55 1097 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 3 Golden Eagle 0 4 39 American Kestrel 0 0 964 Merlin 0 1 51 Peregrine Falcon 0 1 46 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: 1 306 149167 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 09:00:00 Observation end time: 15:00:00 Total observation time: 6 hours Official Counter: Jo Patterson Observers: Andrew Sturgess, 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: I was surprised today as the count surpassed my wildest expectations. We had one bird. Given the strong winds coming from a very unfavorable direction, zero birds would have seemed a more likely outcome. A mass of low grey stratus clouds was pushed through at high speed, darkening in the afternoon and taking on a more malign visage. Wind speed did reach the twenty-mph range, with some significant gusts adding special sauce on top of our nothing burger. The barometer was dropping into the 29.7” range as a quick moving low-pressure area rattled our cage. The temperature reached fifty-nine degrees but the balmy, for November, temperature did not help. We ended the watch a little early today as there was nothing to be gained by staying. Raptor Observations: A gray ghost was spotted in the morning hours moving into the marsh behind us. Other than the local eagles, one of whom snatched a goldfish from the slip, and a local red-tail kiting in the wind, the sky was free of raptors. Non-raptor Observations: The only birds that seemed to be enjoying the day were the Canada geese, who again were dabbling in the unusually shallow waters in the slip. The lake was migrating to Buffalo, water levels were falling during the watch. The few boats that did go out left muddy wakes as their props plowed near the bottom. The gulls seem to have the bait fish schools to themselves now, with most of the cormorants seemingly having departed. The pelicans were AWOL today. A common loon was spotted out by the jetty today. Predictions: The sound and fury will dissipate overnight, leaving us with winds in the five-mph range. They are predicted to start in the west and then flip back to southwest. The barometer should be rebounding in a big way for just one day. We had a one-day low followed by a one-day high, a roller coaster of a week, with more wet weather on the way on Friday and Sunday, as the forecast reads right now. The wind predictions look like a ride at Cedar Point with peaks and valleys and whoop-de-doo’s. Unfortunately, I don’t see one of those special days ahead in the near future. Tomorrow may be the best of a bad lot, with milder winds and mostly sunny skies, as more turbulent weather lies ahead. ======================================================================== 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