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

Monday, October 6, 2025

Day 5 of October Has Sharpies on the Move

Oct 5 2025 Bill said 3 of his Sharpies were so high he had to take a second look. That's a thing! Here's the report:

Sunday, October 5, 2025

Hawks Being Attacked By Smaller Birds???

October 4, 2025 - Saturday. Yes, it's true, even the smallest of birds harrass, dive on, land on and attack Raptors passing through their local space. And even local hawks will harrass migrating hawks to say, this is my territory, move on. Bill doesn't have Sunday morning coverage. He'll be up after church. Here's Saturday's post:

Saturday, October 4, 2025

Cormorants Stole the Show Friday.

October 3,2025 Bill's report lets us know, that there are other bird flocks interesting to be seen from the watch as well as hawks. Here's the report:

Friday, October 3, 2025

Hours Count Too!

Oct 2 2025. Sometimes you get zero hawks for the time you have to spend, But hours do count. They, along with weather data, the watchers and many more things go into the records. But you never know. Sometimes 1 hour is when a thousand raptors flow through. Today, the zero.

Wednesday, October 1, 2025

October Brings a New Guest

Oct 1, 2025 Kim Tyler. Would have loved seeing you. Sorry about the numbers. Please come again. Here's the first day of October's report:

LAST DAY OF SEPTEMBER 2025

Sept 30 2025 Bill says he picked out singles of BWs all day. Here's the report:

Tuesday, September 30, 2025

Hawks Came to a Screeching Halt...

Sept 29, 25 That's the way it goes. A couple days of rain, hawks backed up suddenly show up. Then they all rush through at once. It's OK.he'll take a slow day. Bill did have to leave early anyway. You see what you are able to see. Corpus Christi in Texas says the hawks are non stop down there. The best runs they've had in 5 years. The temps haven't been scorching here, so the hawks don't tend to get as high, so high in the blue you could never see them. And they didn't dodge our site this year. So we can be thankful. It's been a great way to start a season. And God knows a body gets tired after 3 days of hard work. LOL Here's Monday's report: