Detroit River Hawk Watch Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Nov 03, 2016 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 861 864 37352 Osprey 0 0 23 Bald Eagle 1 2 126 Northern Harrier 4 4 341 Sharp-shinned Hawk 11 29 4377 Cooper's Hawk 2 5 116 Northern Goshawk 0 0 2 Red-shouldered Hawk 31 31 343 Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 17529 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 0 Red-tailed Hawk 361 365 2104 Rough-legged Hawk 0 0 5 Golden Eagle 1 2 30 American Kestrel 3 3 550 Merlin 0 0 37 Peregrine Falcon 0 0 28 Unknown Accipiter 0 0 5 Unknown Buteo 0 0 56 Unknown Falcon 0 0 2 Unknown Eagle 0 0 1 Unknown Raptor 0 1 13 Total: 1275 1306 63040 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 08:00:00 Observation end time: 15:00:00 Total observation time: 7 hours Official Counter: Dustin Brewer Observers: Andrew Sturgess, Patrick Mulawa, Raburn Howland, Rosemary Brady Visitors: We had a nice group of visitors today, including at least ten people all at once. One visitor was from Vermont, and saw his first Golden Eagle. For those visitors still seeking their first sighting of this species, don't despair. More are on the way! Weather: This morning, there was an interesting contrast in that cloud cover over the lake was thick, but mostly clear elsewhere. The temperature was cooler today, and more fall-like than it has been the last few days. Wind came mostly from the north-northwest. Raptor Observations: The cooler weather and northerly winds helped to revive Buteo migration. There were also nice streams of Turkey Vultures today, with most of these birds counted between 11 and 12. We had a good look at an adult male Northern Harrier, which is always a treat for us. The '4 o'clock Golden Eagle' was about fifteen minutes early today. Non-raptor Observations: American Crows were the birds of the day. Kind of like picking a needle out of a hay stack, we had to pick raptor 'droplets' out of a crow river. Sometimes, there were thick streams of these birds stretching across the entire sky! Over 6,000 were counted, though this is likely a big underestimate, as many flew by when we were counting raptors. About 40 Blue Jays flew overhead, as did a couple Great Egrets. Predictions: The winds are predicted to be favorable tomorrow, and there will likely be some sunny conditions to create thermals. So, there could be good opportunities to see migrating raptors. ======================================================================== Report submitted by Detroit River Hawk Watch (greg_norw...@fws.gov) Detroit River Hawk Watch information may be found at: http://www.drhawkwatch.org _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists (OFO) - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to birdalert@ontbirds.ca For information about ONTBIRDS including how to unsubscribe visit http://www.ofo.ca/site/page/view/information.ontbirdssetup Posting guidelines can be found at http://www.ofo.ca/site/page/view/information.ontbirdsguide Visit the OFO Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/OntarioFieldOrnithologists