Detroit River Hawk Watch Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Nov 30, 2024 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 0 2983 65220 Osprey 0 0 18 Bald Eagle 7 92 230 Northern Harrier 0 28 348 Sharp-shinned Hawk 0 100 3496 Cooper's Hawk 0 44 119 American Goshawk 0 3 3 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 163 336 Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 6785 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 1 Red-tailed Hawk 0 1097 2028 Rough-legged Hawk 0 7 21 Golden Eagle 0 76 120 American Kestrel 0 1 410 Merlin 0 4 27 Peregrine Falcon 1 6 34 Unknown Accipiter 0 4 19 Unknown Buteo 0 19 50 Unknown Falcon 1 2 15 Unknown Eagle 0 4 7 Unknown Raptor 0 2 30 Total: 9 4635 79317 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 09:00:00 Observation end time: 16:00:00 Total observation time: 7 hours Official Counter: Michael Patrikeev Observers: Ben Sehl, Don Sherwood, Erika Van Kirk, Jo Patterson, Rosemary Brady Visitors: Thank you for a great 2024 Fall season at the Detroit River Hawk Watch! Special shout out to all of our dedicated volunteers that came out rain, shine or snow to make our count possible. Check out our website for the season report coming soon: http://detroitriverhawkwatch.org/ Weather: Overcast with occasional and short-living blue in the sky. Cold winds from WSW, reaching 27 km/hour (17 mi/hr) at times. Flurries in the morning, and in the last hour of count, but we did not have complete whiteouts, like yesterday. It warmed up somewhat by 2 PM, from -5 to -3C (23 to 27F). Raptor Observations: Nine raptors on the last day of hawk count. Two were falcons, a Peregrine flying in a hurry, low over Lake Erie, and probably a Merlin, briefly seen over Gibraltar. The remaining seven were juvenile or sub-adult Bald Eagles, crossing over the lake, heading to Pointe Mouillee. A local Cooper's Hawk checked us out, and went about his business. Non-raptor Observations: One American Crow represented the Corvid Family on the final day of the count. Waterfowl were more diverse. The ranks of the semi-domestic Mallards were inflated by their wild brethren, fleeing from duck hunters. We also saw a female Shoveler and a female Pintail, at least 25 Hooded Mergansers and no less than five Red-breasted Mergansers. Larger merganser flocks traveled over the lake, too far out to be identified. We counted at least 125 Tundra Swans (in flocks varying in size from 6 to 38), and also some Mute Swans. Six Great Blue Herons came from across the river, looking for warmer climes. One Belted Kingfisher and one Killdeer checked in, braving flurries and freezing temperatures. Also Bonaparte's Gulls, etc. Predictions: We predict the first day of calendar winter, December 1st. ======================================================================== Report submitted by Erika Van Kirk (erika_vankirk@fws.gov) 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