Date: 11/2/24 7:00 pm From: <reports...> Subject: [birders] Detroit River Hawk Watch (02 Nov 2024) 784 Raptors
Detroit River Hawk Watch Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Nov 02, 2024 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Observation start time: 08:00:00 Observation end time: 15:00:00 Total observation time: 7 hours
Official Counter: Michael Patrikeev
Observers: Bill Peregord, Don Sherwood, Jo Patterson, Michelle Peregord
Visitors: We welcome visitors to our site by the boat launch in Lake Erie Metropark. We have brochures and educational information we are happy to share. Let us share our enthusiasm for migration and raptors with you! While we welcome your questions and company, please know that our professional counter, apprentices, and volunteers must communicate with each other frequently to successfully conduct the count, and they also must maintain an unobstructed view of the horizon.
Weather: Light, but cold northerly winds became southerly around 1 PM. Sunny, but rather cold. Temperature rose from +3C (37F) in the morning to +11C (52F) in the afternoon.
Raptor Observations: Today was definitely a Golden Eagle Day! Hard work by Don, Bill, Michelle and Jo yielded 14 of these much-sought raptors! Although our overall totals (784) were not that impressive, and Turkey Vultures were still in a lead, we appreciated seeing greater numbers of other species. A dozen or so Red-tails, it seems, were in the air at any given time. This species (153 sighted) made a good attempt to catch up with the leaders. We also counted good numbers of Red-shouldered Hawks (37) and Bald Eagles (13, mainly immature birds). Two Rough-legged Hawks were also sighted; one (dark morph) flew directly overhead, and was photographed by Bill.
Non-raptor Observations: A very impressive flight of American Crows! They crowed the skies, stretching from from horizon to horizon, outnumbering raptors ten to one. By combined efforts of Bill and Michelle, we logged 10,547 crows! The crows were counted by fives, and the last digit of the total is an artifact of the first hour when only two crows were sighted. In addition, we were treated to a sighting of five Trumpeter Swans! Calls of this impressive species were new to some of us! Another treat of the day were Dunlin. A flock of 40-45 was seen over the river in early afternoon,
Predictions: We look forward to almost perfect flight conditions tomorrow. It will be cold, but sunny, with strong easterly winds, i.e., nearly perfect conditions for migrating raptors. We may great numbers (perhaps in low thousands). ======================================================================== Report submitted by Erika Van Kirk (<erika_vankirk...>) Detroit River Hawk Watch information may be found at: http://www.detroitriverhawkwatch.org
