DRHW- Lake Erie Metropark Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Nov 02, 2011 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 0 Turkey Vulture 100 311 51745 Osprey 0 0 85 Bald Eagle 1 1 181 Northern Harrier 3 5 229 Sharp-shinned Hawk 27 43 5277 Cooper's Hawk 8 23 675 Northern Goshawk 0 2 12 Red-shouldered Hawk 3 49 253 Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 195858 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 5 Red-tailed Hawk 59 407 2243 Rough-legged Hawk 0 1 9 Golden Eagle 3 17 112 American Kestrel 1 2 664 Merlin 0 0 20 Peregrine Falcon 0 0 18 Unknown Accipiter 1 3 59 Unknown Buteo 2 14 55 Unknown Falcon 1 1 4 Unknown Eagle 0 0 2 Unknown Raptor 0 10 34 Total: 209 889 257540 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 08:00:00 Observation end time: 15:00:00 Total observation time: 7 hours Official Counter: Jonathan Stein Observers: Andrew Sturgess, Jim Lynch, John Elliott, Rodney Laura Visitors: Lyle Hamilton, Mark O'Keefe, Steve Cashell and Dorothy Cashell all stopped by. Weather: A spectacular early November day at the park. It was mostly blue skies with a light breeze throughout. Temperatures were in the low 60s. The light wind was out of the southwest, turning more southeast late. Raptor Observations: Relatively quiet. Sharp-shinned hawks had a strong day. Other than that, the highlight was a juvenile golden eagle that circled overhead for a short time in the early afternoon. For the second straight day, many birds were sighted well to our north. Non-raptor Observations: I drove down to Cove Point at the end of the day and found a couple interesting birds. Hiding among the many thousands of american coots, the hundreds of ruddy ducks and the dozens of scaup were a single horned grebe, a single long-tailed duck and a few bufflehead as well. At the watch, snow buntings flew past in greater numbers than yesterday. American crows continued their southward march with several gigantic flocks passing over in the morning. A couple more common loons were spotted, again flying northwest. Four more late Monarchs were also noted. Predictions: Cloudy in the morning and partly sunny in the afternoon with a 40 percent chance of rain. The rain appears to be of the scattered shower variety. Hopefully we remain nice and dry because it looks like the wind is going to shift to the north, which would be a positive development. ======================================================================== Report submitted by Jonathan Stein ([email protected]) SMRR- Lake Erie Metropark information may be found at: http://www.drhawkwatch.org Site Description: The primary site used by the Detroit River Hawk Watch (a joint venture of the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge and it's Friends group, the International Wildlife Refuge Alliance) is the Boat Launch at Lake Erie Metropark located approximately 20 miles south of Detroit, Michigan. A secondary site, the Headquarters of Pointe Mouillee State Game Area is used during certain wind conditions. When staffing is available, both sites can be used at the same time. The season begins on the first day of September and concludes on the final day of November. For details and directions, log on to www.drhawkwatch.org Directions to site: Lake Erie Metropark: >From I-75, exit at Huron River Drive (exit 27). Continue east on Huron River Drive. Turn left on West Jefferson and proceed a few hundred yards to the entrance of Lake Erie Metropark. After paying the entrance fee, follow the signs to the Boat Launch. _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to [email protected] For information about ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/
