Detroit River Hawk Watch
Brownstown, Michigan, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Nov 09, 2019
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total
------------------ ----------- -------------- --------------
Black Vulture 0 0 0
Turkey Vulture 172 3194 51402
Osprey 0 0 35
Bald Eagle 0 9 87
Northern Harrier 1 19 284
Sharp-shinned Hawk 10 145 4002
Cooper's Hawk 1 8 91
Northern Goshawk 0 0 1
Red-shouldered Hawk 0 135 330
Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 64336
Swainson's Hawk 0 0 0
Red-tailed Hawk 71 772 1630
Rough-legged Hawk 0 3 4
Golden Eagle 4 11 15
American Kestrel 0 3 701
Merlin 0 1 32
Peregrine Falcon 0 5 51
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: 259 4305 123002
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Observation start time: 09:00:00
Observation end time: 15:00:00
Total observation time: 6 hours
Official Counter: Kevin Georg
Observers: Andrew Sturgess, Don Sherwood, Frank Kitakis,
Rosemary Brady
Visitors:
Richard came to visit us today and a lady from Oakland Audubon who brought
us delicious cookies. They were fortunate to see some of the birds that
made our day. A brief visit by Jim Fowler was very welcome.
Weather:
A gloomy gray sky met us at the start of day. SW winds that grew in
strength provided resistance for those birds that chose to fly against it.
The gray finally grudgingly gave way to a blue sky with high mare's tails
that foretold of possible precipitation to come. The barometer was falling
throughout the watch from 30.11" to under 30" by the end of day. Another
cold day in the trenches but fortunately the SW winds are blocked by the
tree line behind us.
Raptor Observations:
Despite the bad technical indicators, we had a fairly good morning. The
leftovers from yesterday's flight continued to move to the north of us. 172
vultures fought their meandering way across the border. The red-tails were
persistent and 71 flew into the SW wind. 10 sharp-shins and 1 Cooper's hawk
managed to undulate though the winds along with 1 harrier. We have been
short of golden eagles this year and finally had a day with more than two,
doubling that number to 4. The wind finally asserted itself on all the
birds and the flight dried up in the afternoon hours.
Non-raptor Observations:
Thousands of waterfowl were observed in the distance, either flying over
the lake at lower levels or migrating higher up. Bonaparte's gulls seem to
have taken up residence in greater numbers the last few days but those
numbers are still in single digits. Only one Forster's tern was seen. Cedar
waxwing flocks were observed on the other side of the slip a couple of
times.
Predictions:
The barometer will be rising tomorrow but still below normal after
bottoming out in the pre-watch hours. Lots of cloud cover and possible
precipitation are forecast. Winds migrating from SW to more westerly at
more moderate strengths than today may be too little too late. Not a lot of
positive signs there but life is like a box of chocolates.
========================================================================
Report submitted by Andrew Sturgess (ajye...@gmail.com)
Detroit River Hawk Watch information may be found at:
http://www.detroitriverhawkwatch.org
More site information at hawkcount.org:
http://hawkcount.org/siteinfo.php?rsite=285
Count data submitted via Dunkadoo - Project info at:
https://dunkadoo.org/explore/detroit-river-international-wildlife-refuge/detroit-river-hawk-watch-fall-2019
_______________________________________________
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
