Detroit River Hawk Watch Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Nov 20, 2021 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 3 4078 59881 Osprey 0 2 26 Bald Eagle 0 11 78 Northern Harrier 1 20 373 Sharp-shinned Hawk 6 151 6555 Cooper's Hawk 0 11 50 Northern Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 1 161 479 Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 21973 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 0 Red-tailed Hawk 11 1846 3461 Rough-legged Hawk 0 3 4 Golden Eagle 1 44 59 American Kestrel 0 0 1068 Merlin 0 16 65 Peregrine Falcon 0 12 68 Unknown Accipiter 0 0 0 Unknown Buteo 0 0 1 Unknown Falcon 0 0 0 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 0 0 0 Total: 23 6355 94141 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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, Shourjya Majumder Visitors: We are still dealing with the residue of the Covid 19 situation. The workers at the site will be in an enclosed area that is designed for four people only. We still love to interact and share our love of hawk watching with visitors. Feel free to ask questions and look over our shoulders to help you follow the birds. Watch the weather for favorable forecasts as the birds are predictable to some degree based on weather situations. One other thing of note this year; the boat-launch bathroom building has been shut down for the foreseeable future due to plumbing issues. There are Porta-Johns in the parking lot should you require them. Weather: The stars were not aligned too well for today but we pressed on regardless. Brisk winds from the southern quarter were predicted and they came, dying a little as the day went on. At that point we had other fish to fry as the skies were heavy laden with precipitation, some of which proceeded to fall on the site. We pulled the plug early but the birds had stopped an hour before, anticipating the coming weather. The barometer was falling, ahead of an even steeper drop tomorrow. The temperatures were in the thirties today and although there was some light seeping through in the early hours, it was generally dark and gray so the real-feels were below the actual ambient temperature. Raptor Observations: I suppose the day was saved by the appearance of our fifty-ninth golden eagle of the season in the very early afternoon. Otherwise, it was a tough slog picking out raptors from the plentiful gulls in the gloomy sky. We did manage to locate eleven red-tailed hawks and one red-shouldered hawk on the buteo side of the ledger. Three lonely turkey vultures went looking for their companions who mostly left in October. One northern harrier flew low across the water seeking relief from the gusty winds in the slower moving boundary layer next to the lake’s surface. Six sharpies chose to pass, getting a rough ride in the wind. Only twenty-three birds on the day, but the final days of November can be challenging as the weather intervenes with the normal flow of events. Non-raptor Observations: Yesterday was swan day, today belonged to the ducks. Long garlands of migrating ducks could be seen most of the day. The ducks seem to fly in an unbalanced V with one leg very much longer as they play follow-the-leader. They resemble dark strings from a distance and at times the numbers are very impressive. The lake has very large numbers of ducks right now. They were active today as ships and boats disturbed them causing them to lift off in dark clouds similar to starling murmurations. Bonaparte’s gulls were present in the slip. Some crows were noted but their numbers are small compared to earlier. Predictions: Not looking good for tomorrow as rain will fall at some point during the day. The forecast has been changing a little so we shall see what actually occurs. Southern winds will start off light in single digits but build during the day. The barometer will be dropping sharply until the rain passes. Cloud cover should be near 100%. Temperatures will top out a little higher than today by a couple of degrees. I wouldn’t expect too much bird traffic tomorrow given all the negative factors. ======================================================================== 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-2021