This Will Be the Final Post for 2025

Dec 5 2025 Friday I like to close the year with the Hawkwatch.org chart for our final month with also gives the totals from the previous 2 months. This will be the final post for the year. Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. The totals for the year are 3062 total raptors, with 2534 being BWs. Last months numbers of 305 hawks were dominated by TVs and RTs as expected, but what a great number for the short count days. Our closing all time numbers are 79,651 BWs, and 111,055 all species of Raptors. Here's the closing chart:

Things Came to a Screeching Halt, and That's OK

We know that as we get older, it is more important to put our priorities where they need to be. And after so many years of Hawk Watching, the hawk watch team has agreed to not drive Bill into the ground. At this point, Bill must be doing it for the love of finding what ever hawks he has time to dedicate to the pursuit. I assured him at year's beginning, that Jimmy and I would be content with his decisions 100%. There were several years when Jimmy and I were the ones dedicated to being on the watch when we only watched into early October. But Bill loves the later birds having a respecable representation, so he likes to carry the hours into November as well. And some days he only has about and hour or 2 to see what is flying at that time. And that's OK. Quite a few watches have closed already. Including the big ones down south and west. Corpus Christy for instance. So each year when it's time to close it is bittersweet, but it is also important to be content, and very appreciative to Bill for his hours spent. I am posting the last of his records for the 2025 Fall count. I will make one more post as soon as we have finalized our records and I have a chance after Thanksgiving, to put up the Hawkcount.org spreadsheet final for the year. For now her is Bill's final report: there were no additional Hawks counted for these days:

DROPPING 2 POSTS FOR WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY

November 12 and 13th 2025 Moderate daytime temps do not have birds moving through in a push. Catching a few hours yeilded 4 to the hawk count:

AFTER A COUPLE OF FREEZING COLD TEMP DAYS

November 11, 2025 Bill braved the wind and cold for a couple of hours after the freeze. It has warmed up mid day a bit. He has never shyed away from a little cold. Why we and Harold Birch have spent a lot of days standing in the extremes watching hawks, doing counts, and manning a scope at the Sandhill Crane festival. For hours. But it wasn't profitable to stay out there for long on Tuesday. But at least the snow was able to clear away pretty quickly. Well, unlike our northern and Eastern neighbors, who got a good bit. ours was a let down. NO problems. We weren't ready for it anyway. I had a mad dash to recover my greenhouse, but I did look up occasionally before the cold hit, and saw various hawks passing over head here in the valley. But after the cold, the only hawk I saw was in my back yard hunting. He was a big fluffed out Red Shouldered. My local that calls to passing hawks, I'll bet! Here's what Bill saw on Tuesday:

GOOD NUMBERS ROLLING OVER - NOVEMBERS FIRST WEEK WAS PRETTY GOOD!

Nov 8 25 Bill had visitors, friends came up. Welcome to them, appreciate your coming. Bill has had a good first week in November. His treat was starting one day with several Northern Harriers at once. Followed by a second Golden Eagle for the year. Plus he more than trippled his TV numbers going into the week. But from our side - He crossed the 3000 hawk mark for this season landing on 3052. We also rolled into 111,000 all time hawks seen sitting now at 111,045. Great times. Great numbers. Here's the report:

RAIN AND STORMS APPROACHING LEAD TO A "WHAT A DAY!"

November 7, 25 All this and Sandhill Cranes to boot. Wow! Bill's report says it all. But first, He is only a good flight away from 3000 for the year. Here's Friday's report:

VERY CLOSE TO 3000 RAPTORS FOR THE 2025 FALL COUNT

November 6, 2025 There were extreme blue skies yesterday, all day. I was working recovering the greenhouse, and cleaning all day, and I knew when I keep seeing no clouds, the report would be short and sweet. I saw 2 locals all day. A TV and a BV. Zero migrating to be seen over us in the valley. Bill had better luck: