Detroit River Hawk Watch Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Nov 19, 2022 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 3 1007 65672 Osprey 0 0 16 Bald Eagle 1 9 74 Northern Harrier 0 15 390 Sharp-shinned Hawk 0 34 5871 Cooper's Hawk 0 13 80 Northern Goshawk 0 1 2 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 116 449 Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 67350 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 0 Red-tailed Hawk 6 1169 4178 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: 10 2386 145230 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 09:00:00 Observation end time: 14:00:00 Total observation time: 5 hours Official Counter: Kevin Georg Observers: Andrew Sturgess, Don Sherwood 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: Reaching a point of diminishing returns in the sensitivity of our extremities, we called it off a little early today. A few birds were noted, but with the winds blowing from the SW, growing ever stronger in the fifteen to twenty mph range, few were expected. Icy cirrocumulus clouds formed very thin layers of faintly patterned clouds high overhead today. This produced various effects from the sun’s rays hitting the ice crystals. There were multiple sundogs, a sun halo with rainbow-like adornments, and one effect that I had never seen before. A miles-wide, thin white circle of apparent cloud around us in a horizontal plane like a huge-diameter, very thin smoke ring. It was probably another effect of the sun on the icy atmosphere somehow but it was hard to imagine how it was happening given the position of the sun and the ring in relationship to each other. There were solid sheets of ice crystals floating in the waters in front of us as the temperature was below freezing last night and chose to stay there for the duration of the watch. The thin layer of cloud was so delicate that it did little to impede the sun’s rays, although they did little to significantly offset the cold. The barometer was dropping during the four hours we spent there, losing just over a tenth of an inch. Raptor Observations: Well, at least we reached double digits today. Red-tails ruled the roost today, albeit a sparsely populated roost. We tallied six of their number. One bald eagle that did not look familiar to us was noted as a migrant, not a local bird. Possibly, the last three turkey vultures passed us today. Of course, we say that every time we see one lately. Non-raptor Observations: The gulls went to ground today, five hundred, or more, of mixed species were sitting on the water in our little cove. They were content not to wander too far, unless they had found a school of baitfish, or were stirred up by a local eagle passing close by. Apparently not willing to fight the gusty winds, they took shelter from a lake filled with rows of whitecaps in our calmer backwaters. A common loon was seen flying by this morning, headed towards those rough lake waters. Tundra swans were once again in evidence, although not as many as yesterday. Today we examined them with a more critical eye as we had overlooked a probable snow goose in one of their formations yesterday. Ducks were also on the move off to the east of our site, too far away to ID. Predictions: A welcome change is coming tomorrow, is what I would like to say, but since we live in Michigan, that would not be true. There is small change of rain or snow tonight although that should not affect us tomorrow. The cold probably will. It will remain below freezing at lower temps than today. Winds will be in the ten to fifteen mph range tomorrow, coming mostly from a westerly direction. The barometer will rise tomorrow which might help some migrants to take the plunge. The wind’s strength might be the determining factor in whether we do better tomorrow than today. I suspect it may restrict our count a little since it will push the birds pretty hard, probably before we get a chance to see them. ======================================================================== 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