Date: 11/15/24 3:40 pm From: <reports...> Subject: [birders] Detroit River Hawk Watch (15 Nov 2024) 7 Raptors
Detroit River Hawk Watch Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Nov 15, 2024 -------------------------------------------------------------------
Observation start time: 09:00:00 Observation end time: 16:00:00 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: Overcast and high humidity all day long. Light winds, under 16 km/hour (10 mi/hr), turning gradually from West to north-west. Temperature steady between +9 and +11C (48-52F).
Raptor Observations: Uneventful. It rained all day yesterday, and birds were likely drenched and reluctant to fly. We counted only five Red-tailed Hawks and two juvenile Bald Eagles, outscoring Holiday Beach 7 to 4... We'd rather have it the other way around, but with the numbers multiplied by a hundred.
Non-raptor Observations: Fifty-nine (59) American Crows were seen today. However, most of them flew in the opposite direction, i.e., from this side of the river towards Gibraltar.
One male Northern Pintail, befriended by three local Mallards, visited the site in the morning, and almost 100 mergansers (of undetermined species) traveled upriver.
Bonaparte's Gulls, as always, were present on the scene, feeding. However, two of them went after a juvenile Red-tailed Hawk. The hawk fled across the river, with the loudly protesting gulls on its heels! One of the gulls likely scored a hit (or, at least, it looked that way from the ground). The hawk, shaken by such impudence, had to perch in a tree to collect itself.
Two Carolina Wrens inspected tires of all vehicles parked by the count site, likely assessing preparedness for the coming winter.
Other birds of interest included American Trees Sparrow and Junco.
Predictions: Honestly, we do not know what tomorrow has in store for us. It seems that wind forecast changes hourly. In the morning, they promised northerly winds all day long, but modified that prediction later in the day, now calling for southerly after 10 AM. Will that affect hawk count results? Definitely. Is raptor migration already over for 2024? We'll find out in the two remaining weeks of the count. ======================================================================== Report submitted by Erika Van Kirk (<erika_vankirk...>) Detroit River Hawk Watch information may be found at: http://www.detroitriverhawkwatch.org
