Detroit River Hawk Watch Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Nov 03, 2025 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 21 184 90132 Osprey 0 0 29 Bald Eagle 2 5 154 Northern Harrier 1 6 485 Sharp-shinned Hawk 0 12 3956 Cooper's Hawk 0 0 65 American Goshawk 0 0 1 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 8 177 Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 51921 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 1 Red-tailed Hawk 0 41 1083 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 3 Golden Eagle 1 4 39 American Kestrel 0 0 964 Merlin 0 0 50 Peregrine Falcon 0 0 45 Unknown Accipitrine 0 0 1 Unknown Buteo 0 0 3 Unknown Falcon 0 0 3 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 0 1 10 Total: 25 261 149122 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 09:00:00 Observation end time: 16:00:00 Total observation time: 7 hours Official Counter: Jo Patterson Observers: Andrew Sturgess 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: We sat through two showers to start the watch. One was the conventional type with precipitation falling in liquid form, the other was a shower of yellow leaves from the nearby maple tree. The strong southwest winds were daring only the most determined of birds to reach our site. The rain clouds passed, leaving a parade of rows of cumulus clouds, but with increasing percentages of blue sky. The winds were blowing Lake Erie’s waters up to Buffalo and we were seeing the lowest water levels of the season to date. Dabbling ducks and geese were able to explore areas that they had not be able to reach before. No boaters were leaving the dock, where large areas of bottom of the slip were exposed for the first time this year. The temperature did reach fifty-eight, but lost about four degrees to wind chill. The barometer was dropping slightly but it seems that a high is moving in, so it rebounded slightly later in the day. The moral of the story is that you can fight Mother Nature, but she will always win. Raptor Observations: It was unlikely that we would have a good day today with a very strong wind that surpassed the twenty-mph mark from a very strongly disliked direction. It was challenging, even the eagles that we saw were buffeted, resembling sharpies in strong winds. We saw twenty-one turkey vultures, most of them early and staying pretty low. Other pickings were slim, with two bald eagles that did not look local. One harrier that flew very low over the lake, and one golden eagle, providing the saving grace, came by in the afternoon. Non-raptor Observations: We did see a few Forster’s terns and Bonaparte’s gulls this morning. Most birds were laying low, and the few that chose to fly were trying to stay in the lee of the trees. At one time, we did notice eight or nine great blue herons behind us, close together, as if an eagle had caused some consternation among them, causing them to lift off. They quickly sought the calmer sheltered areas and landed. We have several observation points that have been passed along in the oral history that new visitors may have trouble comprehending. “Three trees”, for example, has no trees. The “stacks” were blown up by DTE and no longer exist. Now there is a new twist, we tell people that the “pumpkin house” was so named, not because of its color, but because the owner used to place a pumpkin on the chimney for Halloween. That has just become a little more confusing, since as of today, the house has no chimney. It was removed, leaving only a hint of its previous existence by the new shingles that are not as faded as the rest of the roof. Predictions: The strength of the wind should recede tomorrow, but that is from a high bar, and it will still be substantial at nine to twelve mph. The direction still leaves much to be desired as it will be mostly west with perhaps a little southern spice thrown in. Temperatures will nearly reach sixty-degrees, with increasing cloud cover. The whole week looks a little challenging with rain and cloudy weather forecast at various times, with winds that will be mostly in the double-digit range. This time of year is when we earn our money. ======================================================================== 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