Date: 11/24/24 7:26 pm From: <reports...> Subject: [birders] Detroit River Hawk Watch (24 Nov 2024) 4 Raptors
Detroit River Hawk Watch Brownstown, Michigan, USA Daily Raptor Counts: Nov 24, 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, Dan Atherton, Don Sherwood, Frank Kitakis, Michelle Peregord, Rosemary Brady
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 moderate southerly winds, becoming light towards the end of day. Air pressure was dropping steadily. Temperature remained at +5 to 6C (low 40s F).
Raptor Observations: It would have been an uneventful day if not for one sighting. We counted three Red-tailed Hawks before 11 AM, but only one other raptor after that. The bird timed it arrival between Don and Bill, i.e., one minute after Don left the site, but ten minutes before Bill and Michelle arrived on the scene. My first call, upon seeing the fast approaching bird, was Peregrine, and it would have been entered as such in the form, if I was not lucky enough to snap few pictures. The photos revealed a heavily streaked bird with a prominent light supercilliary, and a yellow eye with dark pupil. Goshawk!? It appeared so on the camera's screen in the field, but after looking at the photos on a laptop, and reviewing hundreds of images from the Macaulay Library, I came to a different conclusion. It might come as a surprise to those of us, who saw the bird. It appears that I was somewhat right, calling it Peregrine. It was a falcon, but a different one. As of 10 PM, I think it was an exceptionally large, very dark female Merlin! Birds of the World online states that largest female of that species reach 32 cm in length, almost as large as small male Peregrine (36 cm). The giveaway were wide dark bands on the tail; the yellow eye (seen in one photo) was likely a trick of light as the bird's eyes were dark in all subsequent photos. I am 99% sure of this ID, but sent photos to a colleague who studied Merlins for nearly forty years. We'll learn of his verdict tomorrow. For the time being. I leave it as Falco sp.
Non-raptor Observations: More Tundra Swans, although fewer than yesterday (about 80). At least three species of ducks, other than Mallards, were also seen. These included eight Hooded Mergansers, three Buffleheads, one Wood Duck (female), and two others, which we did not see very well. A large flock of songbirds flew very low over the lake. Our first thought was snowbuntings, but we did not see any white on their wings. Longspurs perhaps? They were too far to tell with certainty.
Predictions: Southerly winds and rain are expected tomorrow. ======================================================================== Report submitted by Erika Van Kirk (<erika_vankirk...>) Detroit River Hawk Watch information may be found at: http://www.detroitriverhawkwatch.org
