Detroit River Hawk Watch
Brownstown, Michigan, USA
Daily Raptor Counts: Nov 03, 2012
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Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total
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Black Vulture 0 0 0
Turkey Vulture 1201 1963 40940
Osprey 0 0 70
Bald Eagle 8 12 200
Northern Harrier 1 7 226
Sharp-shinned Hawk 15 57 3559
Cooper's Hawk 23 48 408
Northern Goshawk 0 2 11
Red-shouldered Hawk 41 80 309
Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 40923
Swainson's Hawk 0 0 4
Red-tailed Hawk 501 874 1933
Rough-legged Hawk 4 4 10
Golden Eagle 5 8 12
American Kestrel 1 2 529
Merlin 1 1 38
Peregrine Falcon 0 0 30
Unknown Accipiter 0 2 49
Unknown Buteo 1 1 36
Unknown Falcon 0 0 2
Unknown Eagle 0 0 0
Unknown Raptor 0 1 78
Total: 1802 3062 89367
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Observation start time: 08:00:00
Observation end time: 15:30:00
Total observation time: 7.5 hours
Official Counter: Don Sherwood
Observers: Andrew Sturgess, Jim Lynch, John Elliott, Jonathan Stein,
Patrick Mulawa
Visitors:
More than 30 including Greg Smith, Larry Snyder, Martin Berthiaume, Will
Weber, Rodney Laura, Darlene Friedman, Mara Vizconde, Remina Lazarean, Matt
Quam, Dave Quam, Russell Columbus, Skip Zabel, Mark Wloch and Bob Jacobs.
Weather:
There were clear blue skies as far as the eye could see to start the day. A
few white puffy clouds began to drift into view during the late morning,
increasing in abundance as we moved into the afternoon. Lighting was
outstanding throughout. The wind was light and mostly out of the north.
Raptor Observations:
Today was our best day of movement in some time. Coming in wave after wave,
raptors were itching to move after so much crummy weather of late. In the
afternoon, lots of neck-craning was necessary to sight the many birds
gliding out way high overhead. But during the morning hours, birds were
mostly low and pushing through with kettles of Turkey Vultures. One pretty
outstanding kettle featured 28 Turkey Vultures, 16 Redtails, four
Redshoulders, two Roughlegs and a Golden Eagle! Oh yeah and we also got
sensational looks at two particularly stunning Redtails: a rufous morph
adult circling high overhead in the morning and a dark morph adult
wandering around for a while in the afternoon. Also of note: all four
Roughlegs appeared to be light morph adult males.
Non-raptor Observations:
American Crows were once again exceptionally abundant. A flock of Rusty
Blackbirds (25+) spent some time in the trees behind us in the morning.
Small numbers of Pine Siskin and American Goldfinch passed overhead. Two
Ruddy Ducks were hanging out in the channel late in the day.
Predictions:
A carbon copy of today: partly sunny with highs in the mid 40s and light
north wind. No reason to think tomorrow won't be equally as good.
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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/
