Detroit River Hawk Watch Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Nov 26, 2025 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 0 911 90859 Osprey 0 0 29 Bald Eagle 0 34 183 Northern Harrier 0 37 516 Sharp-shinned Hawk 0 108 4052 Cooper's Hawk 0 10 75 American Goshawk 0 0 1 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 112 281 Broad-winged Hawk 0 1 51922 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 1 Red-tailed Hawk 0 990 2032 Rough-legged Hawk 0 4 7 Golden Eagle 0 37 72 American Kestrel 0 0 964 Merlin 0 5 55 Peregrine Falcon 0 4 49 Unknown Accipitrine 0 0 1 Unknown Buteo 0 0 3 Unknown Falcon 0 0 3 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 0 3 12 Total: 0 2256 151117 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 09:00:00 Observation end time: 12:00:00 Total observation time: 3 hours Official Counter: Jo Patterson Observers: Visitors: We welcome visitors to our site as we are eager to share the joys of hawk watching with one and all. Although there may be times in which we are all very busy and need alone-time to concentrate, those are the times that are most enjoyable for visitors as the skies are filled with migrating raptors. Weather: November seems determined to go out with a blast. Unfortunately, that blast is of gale force southwestern winds, not raptors. After three hours in 30mph winds with frequent 50mph gusts, and the “feels like” air temperature in the low teens, the watch ended early. I feared that I too, along with all the water in Lake Erie, would be blown away to Buffalo. This seiche is predicted to be the largest since 2023! Raptor Observations: Unsurprisingly, no migrating raptors were seen today. Non-raptor Observations: Dozens of gulls danced in the morning wind, but as it grew stronger, they resigned to the exposed lakebed, along with Canada Geese and Mallards. All the birds eventually gained an even brown belly as they paddled through the mud. The local eagle pair made huge sweeping circles around the sky, but they too were grounded by the afternoon gales. A Mourning Dove and the pale resident red-tail were the only other birds to brave crossing the slip. Predictions: Tomorrow the winds will ease and turn west, but they will still be considerably forceful at 20mph and 40mph gusts. The temperature will continue to feel like it’s in the low teens, and may be worse than today as the tree line cannot shelter us as well from western winds. If there are any raptors traveling tomorrow we would be truly surprised. ======================================================================== 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