Detroit River Hawk Watch Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Nov 12, 2015 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Species Day's Count Month Total Season Total ------------------ ----------- -------------- -------------- Black Vulture 0 0 1 Turkey Vulture 0 1326 73444 Osprey 0 1 81 Bald Eagle 0 22 177 Northern Harrier 1 68 544 Sharp-shinned Hawk 1 170 5489 Cooper's Hawk 0 34 229 Northern Goshawk 0 1 5 Red-shouldered Hawk 0 159 635 Broad-winged Hawk 0 0 72461 Swainson's Hawk 0 0 1 Red-tailed Hawk 1 1833 3475 Rough-legged Hawk 0 3 7 Golden Eagle 0 25 79 American Kestrel 0 3 815 Merlin 0 3 44 Peregrine Falcon 1 3 35 Unknown Accipiter 0 4 15 Unknown Buteo 0 10 36 Unknown Falcon 0 0 4 Unknown Eagle 0 0 1 Unknown Raptor 0 8 38 Total: 4 3673 157616 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Observation start time: 08:00:00 Observation end time: 12:00:00 Total observation time: 4 hours Official Counter: Jonathan Stein Observers: Andrew Sturgess Visitors: 0 Weather: The gales of November arrived today. Howling southwest winds with strong gusts upwards of 30 mph peppered the count site, repeatedly sending us scrambling to secure any loose items. Dark clouds threatened rain but only a few spritzes of misty drizzle found their way down to us. Early in the day, before the gray clouds rolled in to envelop the sky, the play of light and shadow captured our imagination. In a vista worthy of Hopper, shafts of light filtered down through gaps in the clouds, illuminating a stand of swaying trees set against a dark and stormy background. Raptor Observations: Four raptors of four different species flew by during four hours of counting. A young harrier, an old sharpie, a distant Redtail and a close peregrine all braved the hostile conditions. The peregrine, an adult, saw fit to rise up over the Brown A-frame, dip down low along the water and briefly chase a couple panicked gulls before twisting toward us, flaring up just to our left and disappearing through the bare trees behind us, all in the span of 30 splendid seconds. But more intriguing than the peregrine was one of our resident adult Balds, who collected a chunk of carnage (complete with dangling intestines) from the channel and paraded its trophy directly over us, clamorous gulls following closely behind. Non-raptor Observations: Red-breasted Merganser (35+), scaup sp. (60+), Ruddy Duck (1), Bonaparte's Gull (4) Predictions: Cloudy with cool temps and strong west wind. ======================================================================== Report submitted by Jonathan Stein ([email protected]) Detroit River Hawk Watch information may be found at: http://www.drhawkwatch.org Site Description: The Detroit River Hawk Watch (a joint venture of the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge and its Friends group, the International Wildlife Refuge Alliance) is the Boat Launch at Lake Erie Metropark located approximately 20 miles south of Detroit, Michigan. The location is at the mouth of the Detroit River as it enters Lake Erie. 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 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
