Detroit River Hawk Watch Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Nov 20, 2025 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 0 832 90780 Osprey 0 0 29 Bald Eagle 0 31 180 Northern Harrier 0 35 514 Sharp-shinned Hawk 1 86 4030 Cooper's Hawk 0 8 73 American Goshawk 0 0 1 Red-shouldered Hawk 1 88 257 Broad-winged Hawk 0 1 51922 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 1 Red-tailed Hawk 7 735 1777 Rough-legged Hawk 0 3 6 Golden Eagle 4 29 64 American Kestrel 0 0 964 Merlin 1 5 55 Peregrine Falcon 0 3 48 Unknown Accipitrine 0 0 1 Unknown Buteo 0 0 3 Unknown Falcon 0 0 3 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 2 3 12 Total: 16 1859 150720 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 09:00:00 Observation end time: 16:00:00 Total observation time: 7 hours Official Counter: Jo Patterson Observers: Andrew Sturgess, Don Sherwood, Erika Van Kirk, Johannes Postma, Rosemary Brady 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: When the Levante wind blows over the Mediterranean, the Rock of Gibraltar becomes a cloud producing machine. The western side can go for days without seeing the sun. Today felt like one of those days as we sat in a bowl of potage gris that seemed to thicken as the day progressed. The wind was a bit timid and undecided at the start of the day. When it made up its mind, it chose a generally southeastern direction, growing from a mere zephyr to nine mph at its peak strength. The long fetch across the lake created waves, but no whitecaps. Thankfully, we were shielded as it bent further south. The temperature reached forty-five degrees, a comfortable level for those of us who have endured much worse during past Novembers. The barometer is declining, as it will for another day as the clouds remain, bringing the gloom again. Raptor Observations: There were some highlights, although it is hard to use any word containing “light” on such a dull day. Red-tailed hawks took the gold medal with seven birds. The real gold was on the mantles of the four golden eagles that flew by. We usually see these birds at high altitudes, but with the low cloud ceiling today, they were low and a couple flew fairly close. A three-way tie for the bronze, with one sharp-shinned, one red-shouldered hawk, and one merlin. A slow day compared to yesterday, but they can’t all be good. Non-raptor Observations: The tundra swans made a late appearance today, flying in a high Vee and whooping it up. We also saw a few mute swans whistling by. A small group of Bonaparte’s gulls spent some time bobbing on the water, with occasional feeding sorties. A loon was spotted diving out by the Celeron Island jetty. We had a mixed flock of tree sparrows and juncos visit us today. We heard a strange Canada goose call this morning. It took us a few minutes to realize that it was hunters, nearby, trying to call in some geese. It struck us as futile, since if we knew it was odd, the real geese certainly were not fooled. Our local bald eagles spent the morning sitting in trees as the lack of wind was not to their liking. A group of hooded mergansers were seen landing further up the slip. Predictions: Tomorrow has some of the same elements as today. Heavy cloud cover, possibly with slight breaks later in the day. A falling barometer that should drop a hair below the thirty-inch mark. The winds will be southwest, veering to the west as the day progresses. They will have a little more umph to them at the start of the watch, blowing at seven mph, climbing to nine, and then dropping a couple mph as it turns west. None of these things are positive, except that the temperature will rise to fifty-one degrees, due to the southwest wind. It will be a fairly comfortable boredom that we have to endure. ======================================================================== 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