Detroit River Hawk Watch Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Nov 06, 2025 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 77 277 90225 Osprey 0 0 29 Bald Eagle 3 8 157 Northern Harrier 1 9 488 Sharp-shinned Hawk 6 27 3971 Cooper's Hawk 0 0 65 American Goshawk 0 0 1 Red-shouldered Hawk 8 18 187 Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 51921 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 1 Red-tailed Hawk 43 98 1140 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 3 Golden Eagle 0 4 39 American Kestrel 0 0 964 Merlin 1 2 52 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: 139 445 149306 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 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 skies cleared after yesterday’s windy debacle. We started with a blue canvas with the usual sky graffiti. Straight lines of plane contrails, fern-like icy cirrus clouds and a thin veil of translucent clouds were high aloft. Gradually, so as not really to be noticed, the lightly colored stratus clouds came in “on little cat feet”, as Mr. Sandburg might say. Our sunlight was gone, but so was the haze that had troubled us as the wind shifted to the southeast and drove the birds to a more northerly flight path. We had a plethora of wind strengths and directions today. (As long as we are name dropping, we will give Howard Cosell a nod for that word.) It did settle in the southeast and was of sufficient strength to generate whitecaps on the lake. The temperature reached fifty-two degrees, a temperature we may remember fondly when it turns cold in the coming days. The barometer started a dive that will bottom out tomorrow with eight tenths of an inch difference, that is significant. That difference in pressure will generate winds that will also be significant. Raptor Observations: We had a good start to the day, before the wind started shifting. We were hoping to see a few more turkey vultures before the window of opportunity closes on them early in November. We did manage to find seventy-seven of them, mostly low flying birds hiding behind the trees. Buteos seemed to be on the move, at least in the morning and early afternoon hours. We notched forty-three red-tails and eight red-shoulders before the stream ran dry. Six sharpies made the trek. Three bald eagles passed through. A lone merlin and one northern harrier also made the scene. Non-raptor Observations: We did see a lone Forster’s tern in the slip this morning. The water level has increased since yesterday and the dabblers were gone. A handful of Bonies made an appearance later in the afternoon. The pelicans emerged from their undisclosed secure location, where they had taken refuge from the high winds. The scaup are present in numbers out on the lake as we can see them take off once in a while. This morning, about a dozen great blue herons were seen to take off at once in the park. They like to congregate at this time of year where the waters are shallow and the fish are easy pickings. One of our local eagles put on a show at the end of the watch, as it circled a few times and contemplated a potential catch in the water, very close in front of an appreciative audience. Crows resumed their migration today with thirteen hundred and twenty being noted. Predictions: I think I will sit this one out. High winds from the southern side of town, combined with a diving barometer, does not bode well for our hawk watch. Rain is predicted to fall in the morning hours, so a late start will be likely. The winds will rise to nearly twenty mph again, so an early end may also be possible. We are having a rough start to November and tomorrow will not change that. ======================================================================== 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