Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total
Black Vulture 0 0 0
Turkey Vulture 0 1004 65797
Osprey 0 0 16
Bald Eagle 0 8 73
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 0 1163 4172
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
Observation start time: 09:00:00
Observation end time: 12:00:00
Total observation time: 3 hours
Official Counter: Kevin Georg
Observers: Andrew Sturgess, Sarah deGuise
Visitors:
The birds that were on the move today were tundra swans. They flew by,
sometimes in their classic Vee formation, but more often in smaller groups
of threes and fours at low altitudes. This was unusual for them as we
usually see them high against a blue sky, rather than broken up into small
groups down closer to the ground. We did hear their familiar call a number
of times; alerting us to their presence before we could see the white birds
against a dirty gray sky. A large choir of Canada geese flew by making
dissonant noises, as is their wont. Fairly quiet otherwise, the duck
hunterâs guns occasionally breaking the relative peace.
Weather:
Albert Einstein defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over and
expecting different results. Based on that pithy observation from a true
genius, we decided not to push the envelope and called the watch early
after three hours of zero birds. Our sanity is somewhat suspect anyway
since we sit outside for a quarter of the year in all types of weather. You
donât have to be crazy to do what we do, but it helps. Today had âNoâ
written all over it from the start. The winds continued from the western
end of things with increased vigor today. Always blowing in double digit
speeds and headed upward, it kept any traffic well away from us. The
temperatures were at the freezing point and ice on the marsh waters was
proof that the readings were correct. Light snow flew multiple times and
our vison was somewhat obscured due to atmospheric conditions. We had the
occasional glimpse through a small blue porthole but even darker clouds
soon closed that off. The barometer stayed just above thirty inches,
although the look of the sky said it should probably have been lower than
that. Thankfully, we are spared the lake effect snows that are burying some
communities today. We did, however, pick up an NFL football game to be
played here in Detroit due to those same snows.
Raptor Observations:
âNothinâ from nothinâ leaves nothinâ â-Billy Preston
Non-raptor Observations:
The birds that were on the move today were tundra swans. They flew by,
sometimes in their classic Vee formation, but more often in smaller groups
of threes and fours at low altitudes. This was unusual for them as we
usually see them high against a blue sky, rather than broken up into small
groups down closer to the ground. We did hear their familiar call a number
of times; alerting us to their presence before we could see the white birds
against a dirty gray sky. A large choir of Canada geese flew by making
dissonant noises, as is their wont. Fairly quiet otherwise, the duck
hunterâs guns occasionally breaking the relative peace.
Predictions:
Tomorrow has similar characteristics to today, only worse. The wind will be
blowing from the SW between fifteen and twenty mph. The temperatures will
be below freezing; in the low twenties at the start of the watch, and
staying in the twenties all day. Skies will remain cloudy, although no
precipitation is expected during the watch hours. The barometer will bump
up a little overnight. This does not have any positive signs and I would
expect a truncated watch again tomorrow since the winds will move any
migrants well off to the north.
---======
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