DRHW- Lake Erie Metropark Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Nov 23, 2010 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 0 2829 122324 Osprey 0 0 63 Bald Eagle 0 16 214 Northern Harrier 0 58 464 Sharp-shinned Hawk 0 49 6504 Cooper's Hawk 0 89 831 Northern Goshawk 0 11 19 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 210 487 Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 79572 Red-tailed Hawk 1 1871 3200 Rough-legged Hawk 0 29 29 Golden Eagle 0 50 68 American Kestrel 0 2 675 Merlin 0 4 52 Peregrine Falcon 0 3 40 Unknown Accipiter 0 1 1 Unknown Buteo 0 0 0 Unknown Falcon 0 0 0 Unknown Eagle 0 0 0 Unknown Raptor 0 0 17 Prairie Falcon 0 0 3 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 5 Total: 1 5222 214568 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 10:00:00 Observation end time: 13:00:00 Total observation time: 3 hours Official Counter: Rob Payne Observers: Fred Kirn, Rodney Laura Visitors: 1 guy in shorts and a short sleeve shirt, who was just looking for the local Bald Eagles. Here is a high five to that guy. Weather: The day was over before it began, as gale force winds ruled the day. A low pressure system is coming in from the west, and it's not playing around. Temperatures were a 30f difference from yesterday's 60f rainy day. We hit the high for the day at sunrise, a whopping 36f. Winds averaged out around 10mph, but persistent gusts up to 35mph had us worried for our equipment. Raptor Observations: 1 Just 1 very hardy adult Red-tailed Hawk. Who followed the exact protocol to be counted, but it because of the wind it was hard to tell if it was fighting the wind or hunting. Best bird of the day was the most discouraging thing to see this late in the season. A single juvenile Golden Eagle, which are our strongest fliers, came in from the north east, struggled for a few seconds, landed on a Spruce, looked around, and took off the way it came never to be seen again. That was the official day closer, though we gave it another half hour. We officially had more local birds (and more people) than we had migrating raptors. So in short, A staggering 1 raptor counted of 1 species. Non-raptor Observations: How many times have you seen a flock of 23 Great-blue Herons flying backwards? Quite a funny sight indeed. We also had a flock of 5 Snow Buntings fly past the count site in quite a hurry. A long awaited lifebird for the Counter. Predictions: Tomorrow looks to be a lot better than today, especially with the wind. Temperatures are expected to reach the low 40s. Winds are going to be coming in from the north east at about 10mph. Let's hope it stays that way. Rain will move in tomorrow night, and most likely stick around throughout Thursday. There is a lot of instability in the weather right now, but it looks like a good three day weekend to close off the season. ======================================================================== Report submitted by Greg Norwood ([email protected]) SMRR- Lake Erie Metropark information may be found at: http://www.drhawkwatch.org _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to ONTBIRDS mailing list [email protected] For information about ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/
