SITE DESCRIPTION

SITE DESCRIPTION:
"The Soddy Mountain hawk lookout is located in southeast Tennessee on the eastern face of Walden's Ridge (the Cumberland Escarpment) in Hamilton County, a short distance north of the town of Soddy-Daisy, TN. It lies at the eastern terminus of Jones Gap Road atop a bluff overloooking Hwy. 111 and the beautiful Tennessee River Valley to the east. The hawk lookout location is state-owned land, and there are currently no restroom or eating facilities nearby. Hawk watchers are advised to bring their own folding lawn chair, sunscreen, a hat, and drinking water, as well as binoculars and a field guide. Caution should be used at all times, especially if children are present, as there is no fence to prevent a fall off the nearby 75 foot bluff. The hawk lookout proper is level ground." *

No Shelter is available, and parking is on a level below the lookout grounds. The climb to the watch site is up a steep bank about 8' high. Other helpful tools might include an umbrella or spotting scope, although on a good day, you might not find time to use either.*

Courtesy of William G. (Bill) Haley, compiler and author of the brochure, Soddy Mountain Hawk Lookout, produced for TOS.

Red-tailed Hawk

Red-tailed Hawk
Falconer Mr. Johnson's Red-tail

Sunday, September 17, 2017

Catching up

Anticipation on 14th and 15th of the Saturday event
 to release 5 rehabbed  BWs
Sept. 12th and 13th were the very rainy, windy days following Hurricane Irma's moving North inland over Georgia and the TN Valley.  So not coverage, but we were jumping to go by the 14th -

Sept. 14, 2017

BW 2

Watchers: Jim Rowell 8-5
Jimmy and Cynthia 2-4:30
Bill Haley 2:30 to 5
Lots of Clouds but SE to SW winds all day in the upper levels.
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Sept. 15, 2017

Watchers: 
Jim Rowell 8:00-5:00
Bill Haley 8:00-10:45
Harold Birch 9:00-5-15
Jim & Cynthia Wilkerson 11:30-4:30

Temperature ranged from 63-86 F; wind started NW 2-5, eventually changing to E and was light, 2-5 mph all day; visibility went from 15K in morning, with dense fog in the valleys, to 45K in the afternoon. Clouds were only 5% in morning, eventually building to 40% by 2:00.

N. Harrier (1) 3:55
Osprey (1) 12:47, (1) 2:54
Bald Eagle (1) 11:20 ad., (1) 4:19 imm.
Sharp-shinned Hawk (1) 10:24, (1) 12:24
Broad-winged Hawk (1) 11:20, (1) 12:12,
(1) 4:55
Am. Kestrel (1) 2:52
unid. falcon (1) 3:11

Hawk totals:
NH 1, OS 2, BE 2, SS 2, BW 3, AK 1, UF 1

Other migrants: Palm Warbler, Yellow throated Vireo, Scarlet Tanager (2 females), Blue-gray Gnatcatcher,  Red-headed Woodpecker

Monarch 2

Reporting: Bill Haley
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So nice to have this season underway with lots of variety in hawks showing up.  New persons to our site my not know that we often see plenty of Turkey and Black Vultures, as well as Red-tailed hawks, Red-shouldered Hawks, and Bald Eagles.  But we have to be careful not to put our locals into the counts, or count some things too early, when they are not actually migrating.  Vultures are actually great to have around, because they keep us on our toes, and also provide a guide to the areas where thermals are forming.  Red-tails help us have education time, and Red-shouldered hawks provide great call education.  We will probably have some Red-shouldered hawks begin to show up in the counts soon.   But we certainly can't count them if we don't
 
Keep Looking UP!!!
Jimmy and Cynthia
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