Detroit River Hawk Watch Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Nov 20, 2022 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 0 1007 65800 Osprey 0 0 16 Bald Eagle 0 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 2 1171 4180 Rough-legged Hawk 0 1 1 Golden Eagle 1 13 30 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: 3 2389 145361 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 09:00:00 Observation end time: 13:00:00 Total observation time: 3.5 hours Official Counter: Kevin Georg Observers: Andrew Sturgess, Bill Peregord, 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: Another cold day in the trenches, which in the interest of safety, was cut short after four hours. The temperature ranged from nineteen to twenty-three degrees during that time. Winds ranged from ten to fifteen mph, although fortunately, it was at our back. Skies were mostly cloudy during that time with some very fine light snow falling on occasion. No solar special effects to distract us today. The barometer was in the 30.3” range and the afternoon skies seem to reflect the high pressure. Raptor Observations: Slow day today with only three birds making the count. Two red-tails and one golden eagle. Non-raptor Observations: The little spot of sunshine today came in the form of a yellow warbler wearing bright yellow plumage landing in a small maple tree close to our observation post. It caused a little ID confusion as it seemed to have a dark spot on the head but that later proved to be missing feathers. Thanks to Jerry Jourdan for a set of clarifying pictures. The other birds of interest appeared to be a pair of lesser black-backed gulls in among the assembled masses of herring, ringed-billed and Bonaparte’s gulls, either riding the waves or sitting on the sheets of ice that had formed overnight. Tundra swans also flew by a few times. Plenty of ducks were up in the air today, some heading in what seemed to be counterintuitive directions. Predictions: Strong winds from the SW will push the temperature up to forty degrees tomorrow, breaking the icy grip that has made counting such a challenge lately. They will also probably push any migrants away from us since they will start at fifteen and grow to twenty mph. The barometer will probably be falling as part of the bumpy ride that was promised. It will stay above 30” but probably drop two tenths from today’s high. A mostly sunny day is predicted so, except for the robust wind, it should be a relatively pleasant day. ======================================================================== 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