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

Saturday, September 17, 2022

It's Saturday, It's Saturday and International Hawk Migration Week!

_______________ Today, I was taking a rest after hauling and placing mulch and lookup up to see vultures. Following the Harold Birch rule, to never discount the possibility of a haek being among them, I grabbed my binoc, and was rewarded with a single followed by 8 bulleting BWs. They dropped from very blue skies from extremely high. And they never moved a wing. The road the whole way with wings tightly pulled into the bullet position. Gone in an instant, then a large bird crossed through my lens. I dropped the binocs just in time to see a BW chasing a dragon fly. I watch a bit longer as more dragonflies, monarchs and Vultures passed through. But my most beautiful sighting was the last one. A REd-tailed Hawk flying north, circled a time or two, before heading North. Thing was...he was almost totally white underneath. I saw the dark commas clearly and a very pink tail. A tiny dark feather here and there, but nothing to look remotely like a bellly band. I never saw his back, but as he passed where the sun could shine through it's wings looked almost transparent. Beautiful. But nice to have a few BWs too. Jimmy and Tami will be on the watch tomorrow..Sunday. At least as long as Jimmy can handle it. Wish them luck. What a great day to KEEP LOOKING UP!!!

No comments:

Post a Comment