Detroit River Hawk Watch Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Nov 22, 2021 ------------------------------------------------------------------- Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 3 4081 59884 Osprey 0 2 26 Bald Eagle 2 13 80 Northern Harrier 0 20 373 Sharp-shinned Hawk 5 156 6560 Cooper's Hawk 0 11 50 Northern Goshawk 0 0 0 Red-shouldered Hawk 7 168 486 Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 21973 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 0 Red-tailed Hawk 57 1903 3518 Rough-legged Hawk 0 3 4 Golden Eagle 1 45 60 American Kestrel 0 0 1068 Merlin 0 17 66 Peregrine Falcon 2 14 70 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: 77 6433 94219 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 09:00:00 Observation end time: 15:30:00 Total observation time: 6.5 hours Official Counter: Kevin Georg Observers: Alex Gilford, Andrew Sturgess, Rosemary Brady 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: Today was a challenge to predict and a challenge to endure. The wind was responsible for both of those conditions. Over fifteen mph for most of the day, coming out of the west with occasional forays to a slightly more northern direction, it gradually dropped to around ten mph at day’s end. The temperature reached thirty-seven degrees but the Feels-like temps were in the twenties. Sunshine was plentiful with occasional intrusions by small cumulus clouds, but mostly a classic high-pressure sky. The barometer had climbed over thirty inches from yesterday’s plunge, but took a small dip towards the end of the day. Raptor Observations: Despite having to fly into a strong headwind, some of the raptors were up to the challenge and managed to make some headway on their trip south. Red-tails led the way with fifty-nine of them riding the gusty winds, looking like sharpies at times as they were buffeted off their intended course. Seven red-shoulders were noted in among the tails. Three turkey vultures came by, one at a time. We saw five sharp-shins today getting their money’s worth on the roller-coaster ride. Two bald eagles, one adult and one subadult were seen passing high overhead. One subadult golden eagle passed through in the morning. Two peregrine falcons were seen today. The flight essentially shut down in the mid-afternoon hours for some reason but this is something we have seen a lot lately. Non-raptor Observations: The first thing that caught our eye this morning was sixteen long strings of ducks headed in the opposite direction to what they usually fly in. Not sure what was up with that, but they may have been just stretching the wings and staying in shape. We didn’t see the usual gathering out on the lake so they may have been airborne. Our local flock of Bonaparte’s gulls grew to about thirty-five birds today and rather than feeding, they just seemed to be up enjoying riding on the winds. A few small murders of crows stayed low behind the trees to avoid the worst of the wind. Predictions: Tomorrow will look a lot like today visually. There will be one important difference as the winds will be somewhat diminished. The barometer will continue to climb, up to nearly 30.3”. Temperatures will stay in the thirties again but the WNW wind will be in the four to six mph range so the wind chill shouldn’t be as bad. Hopefully, the birds will find the going a little easier and come close to our site to be counted. Today’s flight lines were spread out and varied as the birds were pushed around and did not fly in straight lines. ======================================================================== Report submitted by Kevin Georg (kevin.l.georg@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