Nearing the end of Fall Migration

Not too many of us were able to get up to the hawk watch during October. However, "DATA IS DATA" as Bill Haley always used to say.  So no data is too small for us. Even negative data counts for something. For knowing when it is unlikely that we will see hawks migrating. Or determining that the numbers are low for a certain year, for example.  But you never know when that marvelous Golden Eagle, or the sneaky Merlin will slip in. (hint, hint) Because weather doesn't dictate the migration attitudes of some raptors, the way it does the fights of Broad-wings. I am excited to up our numbers with this updated data.

Thanks so much to Harold Birch and Bill Haley who were able to get up a few hours on occasion to broaden the picture of what migration for hawks is like beyond Broad-wings.

 It would be significant to note in an overall picture, for future reference, that these numbers are low literally because we weren't able to have constant coverage.  As you will see, even 1/2 hour is worth notation. Let me note that we love numbers for birds other than migrating raptors. What are you seeing when you visit?
 (If you have numbers to report for even 15 minutes, please e-mail Jimmy with the specifics. Or post to TN-birds.)

Tuesday, October 13, 2013
9:30 - 12:45  (3 1/2 hrs.)

1 Cooper's Hawk  (CH)
2 Red-tailed Hawks  (RT)
______________________
3 -Total countable raptors
Harold Birch reporting

                 ...
Saturday, October 19, 2013
2:30 - 3:00 (1/2 hr.)

1 Cooper's Hawk (CH)
______________________
1 - Total countable raptors
Bill Haley reporting

..............................................

Saturday, November 9, 2013
9:30 - 12:30 (3 hrs.)

6 Red-tailed Hawks (RT)
2 Red-shouldered Hawks (RS)
1 Cooper's Hawk (CH)
1 Northern Harrier (NH)
9 Turkey Vultures (TV)
______________________
19 - Total countable raptors
Bill Haley Reporting

             ....
Monday, November 11:2013
10:30 - 11:15 (3/4 hr.)

45 Turkey Vultures (TV)
 5  Red-tailed Hawks (RT)
_____________________
50 - Total countable raptors
Bill Haley Reporting

*Also seen - 2 Sandhill Cranes

               ....
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
9;30 - 1:30 (4 hrs.)

10 Red-tailed Hawks (RT)
  1 Cooper's Hawk (CH)
  1 Bald Eagle (BE)
______________________
12 - Total countable raptors
Bill Haley Reporting


Thursday, November 14, 2013
9:15 - 3:30 (6 1/4 hrs.)

10 Red-tailed Hawks (RT)
  2  Sharp-shinned Hawks (SS)
  1 Cooper's Hawks (CH)
  1 Northern Harrier (NH)
  1 Golden Eagle (GE)
  1 Bald Eagle (BE)
  3 Turkey Vultures (TV)
_______________________
19 - Total countable raptors
Bill Haley reporting
 (Jimmy was able to join Bill after Bill reported the Golden Eagle, and stayed after Bill had to leave. Sadly, he had thought about going up earlier, and by not following his gut on this day, missed the Golden Eagle. Glad Bill was there to see it. Obviously the high-light of the day. Great add to this year's totals.)

Also seen - 37 Sandhill Cranes

This catches up our numbers update - but Jimmy had a great story from this last afternoon:

"2:30
I heard Chickadees and Titmouse behind me, that I had not earlier noticed.  They were very vocal. I looked behind me and a very close-in MERLIN was circling over the dead pine. However, it flew North. The last time I saw it, he was out over Cell 1...."

Result of that, of course, because he flew north and didn't return during watch hours...we couldn't count him.  This is why I like the blog in addition to the actual data reports.  In this way, a bird as vital to the count is at least recognized.  Even though it would not be reported to official records.  It's important to make known that birds like Merlins are being seen.  Great report, Jimmy.

____________________________________________________________________
NEXT TIME
Maybe a few more numbers, and a YTD update. Also:

The next opportunity I have to report, I want to discuss some research Jimmy has been doing on past records, and count areas. Perhaps by then he will have a story written, but if not, what he is finding is worth discussion. Plus, we hope that in the interim between this year's count and next year's count,  we can begin to get the totals for the last few years into a chart form. I may have to post them one year at a time, until we get caught up, but we have constant requests for those numbers in an easy to reference form.

Also, we need to address the question that is often asked: "To whom are these numbers being reported."  For Jimmy and I, it is OK that we are "Hawk-watchers" at heart, as a hobby. Reporting our numbers here could just remain a hobby. But that data is valuable, in a larger scheme of things, and we are aware of that. It is why we keep it.  Bill Haley reported our numbers over the years to "the keepers of the numbers," regularly.  TOS members have requested that we put the numbers into a proper document to report them.  So we are beginning an effort to compile and report, and since I totaly detest paperwork, it will be a major act of will to get it done. But I agree that the value out-weighs my excuses.  So, Jimmy is compiling, and I must get it categorized.( Hope I am not setting myself up to fail here.)  But I want to make this site informative and useful, and hope to continue to expand the education of "hawk-watching" to all who love these magnificent birds.
Cynthia

NEVER STOP LOOKING UP!

16 SHARP-SHINNED HAWKS IN ONE DAY!

Our mentor and long time hawk watching companion, Bill Haley, who discovered our watch, and trained quite a few of us to recognize the hawks we saw, was able to get up on Saturday.  The following is his report via email:

 

"Jimmy and Harold;

I’m pleased to report that hawk migration does not stop after September.

Made my first trip up to the hawk lookout on Saturday, Oct. 5 from 9:30-3:00. Huge crowd up there - me, myself and I. We ALL had a great time, and it was sure good to get back on the lookout! Since I had the place all to myself, and not knowing when I might get back up there, I decided to spend my time scanning the sky (no basket weaving) and it paid off. The first hour and a half consisted of waiting for the fog in the valley to rise past me and for at least 45 minutes, I was in the cloud and you couldn’t even see the north ridge. Things cleared some by 11:00, when the 15% clouds mostly consisted of old jet contrails. Around 2pm, some small puffy white clouds began forming, but only got to 30%. Wind started from 1-3 MPH ESE and changed during the day to 2-5 MPH SE. Temps ranged from 67-84. No batteries in the weather radio, so no baro or humididty...

Our old landmarks along the ridge don’t work much any more. Bushy oak and lone pine are gone. Not sure where T -1, T-2 and T-3 are. The dip doesn’t even look very dippy! Can’t see the S shaped driveway at all anymore. Fred and cell #1seems unchanged. I couldn’t see cell #2 most of the day. What landmarks do you use now?

Shortly after the fog went away, I spotted my first hawk of the day, a local RT with a very dark belly band. Seen at eye level, and soared nearby which was nice. During the day I saw at least 3 RT’s that I took to be local birds. At one point all 3 were soaring together.

At 11:15 over the north ridge, there was finally some excitement. I had 2 adult Bald Eagles, 3 Sharp-shins and 1 adult Red-tail in my binocular view at the same time! As far as I could tell, they all went south except the RT.

I really didn’t expect to see any Broad-wings, but the first one showed up not too long after that. It was obviously a buteo, and at first I thought RT. It had its wings set and was heading my way. As it passed overhead at medium altitude, I got a better look. I thought to myself that it was mighty light underneath for a Red-tail, with no belly band at all. I then realized it was an adult BW and was thrilled that I got to see at least one heading south this fall! It obliged me by stopping to soar overhead for a bit and giving me a good look at the black and white striped tail before heading on down the ridge. I saw two more together after that and one more lone bird for a total of 4 BW.

I was also pleasantly surprised to spot two migrating Osprey. One was seen over the north ridge and came right overhead, the other was found while scanning small puffy clouds later in the afternoon. It almost slipped past me.

I’d hoped for maybe a Peregrine or Harrier, but oh well, you can’t expect everything.

Counted four migrant Monarch butterflies. I’ve been meaning to ask – did you see many Monarchs this year? They were found in very low numbers all summer, and many people are worried about them. What were your impressions?

Final totals for the day:

BE – 2

OS – 2

SS – 16

BW – 4

Not too bad! In 5.5 hours, I saw ¼ your Osprey total and ½ your Sharp-shinned total for the entire fall.

I wish I could be up there this morning with that cool brisk wind blowing from the North!

Bill"

 

As many of you who have come up lately will recognize, he found that most of our landmarks have changed, just as we have shared to many of you.  But I guess he still found Fred in tact, and the telephone pole. LOL That and the brow, the gap and the house, the cell towers, and the scattered colored roofs down the valley are our only good landmarks any more.

 

He notes as we discussed that not too many Monarchs are being seen this year.  But to answer his question, we did see a few. But not large numbers as in years past.

 

He is so right.  Hawk migration is not over in September.  Many of our visitors this year know, that we were only able to cover the bulk of the Broad-winged Hawk season, but for our reader's sake, it is important that you note the remainder of this season could yeild some great numbers if we were able to be there to see them.  Be sure to check the charts on the "Species" tab on the right column of the page.

 

Thanks for the report, Bill, and for the extra hours covered. Hope we get up there a few more times before the season is over.

 

THINGS ARE LOOKING UP!

2013 Summary

Jimmy posted the following YTD Summary for the year 2013.  The summary constitutes the totals for the time where coverage was as consistant as we could all manage.  There may be a few days during the next two months that someone is able to get up for a few hours of leisurely hawk counting.
Looking back to last year - a few days early in October we had between 100 and 200 BW's for the day, which makes us sad not to be able to be able to be in two places at once this week.  I will post any data on miscellaneous days in the future, but for now this is Jimmy's Year To Date Summary:

Season Summery 2013

We kicked off the watch on Sept. 10 and ended on Oct. 01. We had 18 days
coverage and logged 102.25 hours.

We counted for the season: 8 Osprey; 19 Bald Eagles; 2 Northern Harriers; 32
Sharp-shinned Hawks; 14 Cooper's Hawks; 4 Red-shouldered Hawks; 2656
Broad-winged Hawks; *4 Red-tailed Hawks (as far as I know, the first ever dark
phase Red-tailed Hawk); 3 American Kestrels; no Merlin's; 4 Peregrine Falcons
along with 1 unidentified accipiter and 1 unidentified Raptor.
TOTAL: 2748
Our Broad-winged Hawk average was off by around 2300 birds. Our official big
day total was 801 BW's on Sept. 26th. On Sept. 18th. Cynthia was only able to
count 130 specks in a massive kettle that just never materialized as they flew to the
west before they got close enough for us to count. The estimate would have exceeded 500 birds and most likely over 1,000. Cynthia could see a writhing gray matter that looked like glitter in the distant skies as the hawks kettled which she knew were Broad-winged Hawks but we couldn't in good conscience count them. More than likely this could have been our biggest kettle ever!

Visitors for the season included:
Andrew Theus
Ruth Ann Henry x 3 visits
Charles Murray x 4
Pete & Marg Krampee x 2
Lenny Kafka
Charlie & Suan Corn
Lora McBride x 3...a quick study and eager new counter!
Bob Saunders
Kathy Andregg from Georgia
Carla Quinn with parents Martha & Ben Hall
Phil & Carolyn Snow...Carolyn always comes on our biggest day!
Tony & Iva Kate Hopper from Alabama
Jeffrey Schaarschmidt x 2... maybe he will become a regular!
David & Jackie Boykin from Georgia
Jennifer Taylor from the TN Aquarium
Mark McShane x 2 brought Pat Markey both from Georgia
and Phil & Jody from Georgia

May I give special thanks to all the regular counters who make
Soddy Mtn. Hawk Watch what it is...
Harold Birch
Bill Holt
Cynthia Wilkerson and myself

Jimmy Wilkerson
Hixson, Hamilton Co., Tn
___________________________________________________________

We feel like the big push this year was earlier this year than last, due to 3 reports of large numbers passing between the 18th and 22nd of Sept, near to, or north of, our site.  One of those being the enourmous group we saw and were not able to count just to the west of us.

We had wondered if warmer weather might mean Broad-wings would pass later this year, but indications from our site and others, reveals an earlier push instead.  Our stats must remain true to what we are actually able to see, (or at least make a reasonable estimate of what we can see, if we are unable to count them singly.)  The blog will continue to report sightings where ever our hawk watching friends see them, but the summary numbers will remain faithful to the watch area only. C

KEEP LOOKING UP!

ANY DAY NOW - ACCIPITERS AND OTHER BUTEOS WILL BE FLOWING THROUGH

Harold Birch sent us the following report today.  Jimmy needed a day of rest.  Harold reports that a couple from Georgia who joined him today, reported exiting a restaurant near the Aquarium on or about the 21st of September, (a rain out day for the Hill) and they saw so many broad wings overhead they were impossible to count.  We knew they were out there somewhere! LOL  Appreciate them coming by to make the report.  Great news.

Harold's report was:
"Most of the birds were easily seen with naked eye. One BW was about 50 feet up over head."

"BW – 1153 s, 1241 (2)w, 1354 s, 1400 s, 1422 w, 1435 s, 1518 s,

SS - 1019 (2 – south), 1153 w, 1219 w, 1241 w, 1505 s

RS - 1210 s,

CH – 1318 s, 1526 s

BE – 1431 s, 1435 s

10:00 – 64 deg 81% calm 30.17 60% 30k

11:00 – 67 79 calm 30.17 60 25

12:00 - 70 75 calm 30.17 40 40

1:00 - 73 69 ssw 5 30.17 40 40

2:00 - 77 62 ssw 5 30.12 40 45

Harold Birch

Soddy Daisy, TN"

 

That's 8 BWs, 2 Coopers and 6 Sharpies....We expect the numbers to change over to Accipiters, and other non-BW species for October.  It has begun!

Check the side bar to check out the chart for the general movement of all the species.  The chart is provided with permission from Bill Haley's flyer previously printed for the Soddy Mountain Hawk Watch. On this page are the accepted abbreviations for the species we list, and a chart on their movement.
 http://soddymountainhawkwatch.blogspot.com/p/raptor-species.html

 

I am so excited to see people continue to visit, even though we may not be able to be there nearly as often as the past three weeks. 

 

I want to thank Mark McShane for his great report to his Georgia birders, and a great shout out for the hawk watch.  They continue to look for a great watch area there, and when they find it, we hope to report their numbers for a larger perspective on hawks move on a broad front.

 

Aren't the Bald Eagle numbers impressive.  So much fun seeing them moving through almost daily. In case you think we might be seeing the same ones, it is possible to note that many of them look different, are differing ages, and we have seen as many as two pairs of Adults traveling together, thus eliminating the possibility of confusing them for the day.

 

THINGS ARE LOOKING UP!

DATA IS DATA

Yesterday was a tough day to keep our eyes to the skies.  Intense blue skies and sun taxed us a bit, although fading numbers in Broad-wing counts, gave way to increasing numbers of Accipiters, and others. For several days the hawk count died about 3:30 to 3:45.  Although we stayed later a couple of those days, without much luck, we left yesterday, just because we were tired.  All in all, the coverage this year has been phenominal.  Someone has spent some time on the hill, even on days we could not be there, and when weather broke late in the day as well.  Almost every possible hour has been covered.

On one of the good days last week, we stayed past 6:00pm and were still seeing hawks at heights streaming through 2 or 3 at a time; and one slow day we stayed only to see a Harrier around 6.  This is unusual for most days, because I dont' remember anyone saying they had steady counts through til that late before. 

We are attempting to help all our hawk watch friends understand...Data is Data.  Positive or negative.  High numbers or few.  Each bit of the puzzle helps us understand which days are promising, and which will require skill and long slow hours.  There are no promises to see hawks on any day, but due to data, we find we can still expect the cold fronts during late September, to still indicate good watch days to follow.

One of my favorite bits of information this year, has been an answer to the question:
"If we aren't seeing hawks, are they moving through to the north and west of us, possibly in as large numbers as we have seen in past years?"  The answer is in this year's data.  Although our YTD totals for Broad-wings is lower this year than we hoped, the extremely large group of hawks we were able to see but not count in the NW skies, was proof that there were hawks moving through,  NW of us. In large numbers.

The second question we often ask is:
"Do they ever get up into the clouds, and therefore are not within view?" We saw evidence of this in a previous year, when we actually saw a kettle disappear into the clouds at a distance, and about time they reached our air space, they could be seen dropping from between the clouds where we counted almost exactly the number we extimated had gone into the clouds.  But we once again saw this on numerous occasions this season, to the extent that our visitors remarked several times that they were seeing the thermaling hawks disappering into the clouds.

That brings about the 3rd question we often hear, and have wondered about:
"Do the hawks fly above the clouds so we can't count them?"  And again, the answer is "yes."
We see evidence of this fact when hawks suddenly materialize into view, dropping through the clouds at close range. We often see hawks rise into the skies until they are such tiny specks that very few can still see them. Seeing hawks disappear, when they are much larger than specks, lets us know that they have the capacity to get much higher than some of the lower clouds that sometimes blanket our viewing area. Today was a day like that, so we were asked a couple of times by visitors, could the hawks be flying above this, to which the answer is yes.

Were there likely large numbers we missed over the last two days.  We don't think so.  And at least, my primary reason for that belief is the direction of the winds.  SW winds are extrememly difficult winds for Broad-wings, or any migrating bird to confront, if that is the direction the migration is taking them.  (Fall)  It would be excellent riding winds in Spring on the return journey however.

We watched a Kestral today, which would flap contantly into the wind, but the second it stopped flapping, it dropped 15 to 25 feet as though it had hit a brick wall, and would begin to flap again, and get lift back toward it's path, only to experience the same 30 or 40 feet later.  Over and over that poor bird attempted to cross from the ridge to our location, just to have the wind knock it back.  It finally, just took a nose dive into the trees on the ridge and we didn't see it again all day.

A Broad-wing late in the day, had plenty of altitude, but was blown back as it turned it's usual soaring loops, so much that we had to watch it carefully to be sure it wasn't a kiting Red-Tailed Hawk.  But, after watching it struggle to get lift against the winds, it finally tucked and bulleted into the SW taking advantage of that wind to keep it aloft.  It was obvious that both these birds were having to expend way too much energy for the distance they traveled. SW winds don't benefit the migrating hawk which needs the ease of thermals to lessen the stress.

The last 3 days have given us low numbers, but great looks at some of the birds.  And they have reminded us that even negative data, is good data.

Here are the stats:

Friday, 9/27/2013
41 BW's
 3 CH
 2 S/S
 1  AK
 2  OSP
  2 BE
_____________________
Total Countable Raptors: 51            

Our daylist was 20 birds: included Bluebirds, Hummers, and a chipping Thrush we couldn't see to ID.
Watchers: J&C, Harold Birch, Bill Holt, and visitor Jeffrey Schaarschmidt.


Saturday, 9/28/2013
24 BW
 1  CH
 6 S/S
  1 NH
  2 RT including one very dark, still mulling over exact call.
  1 BE
____________________
Total Countable Raptors 35

Our daylist included 19 species with a Rose-breasted Grosbeak being new to the list.
Watchers were: Harold Birch, J&C, and Bill Holt

Sunday 9/29/2013
 8 BW
 2 S/S
 1 CH
 1 PG
 1 Osp
 3 BE
_____________________
Total Countable Raptors  16

Our daylist included 19 species again, and we figured out that the tiny chip note were field sparrows in the grass.  (Note: we actually saw a few things Jimmy failed to list, but I can't fault him, because he stays pretty busy keeping stats, checking and recording weather data, and  keeping up with our flow of visitors. He occasionally actually gets to scan the skies for a while.)

Watchers and visitors: J&C, David and Jackie Boykin of Statesboro, GA with Jennifer Taylor, Jackie's sister, and their Mom; Mark McShane & Pat Markey, both of GA,  and friends and regulars, Ruth Ann Henry and Charles Murray.  Also, Jeffrey Schaarschmidt was able to get by this evening.

Charles came with a request to see a Peregrine Falcon that wasn't a speck and was happily rewarded. Ruth Ann desired a Bald Eagle and got two.  But Jeffrey's request for a Northern Harrier for his life list didn't happen. Sorry.  David Boykin only wanted to see a small kettle and we couldn't pull one out of the skies today.  Had wanted to meet Pat because he is from the county we once lived in, where we have family, and look forward to visiting him when we are there.  And Mark was with us on one of our really big days in the past and forgave us for not producing a repeat performance today. LOL 

Many thanks to all our friends who have come by from all over 3 states.  Some traveled a very long way to drop by the Hill.  I sincerely hope all who didn't get to see the kettles coming through will not give up, and will come again!

Today is the final day of our manning the post with the intensity of almost daily presense.  We are sorry to say, we will need to approach October and November with a go when we can attitude. Please don't let it stop any of you from taking a chair and visiting a while with your friends, or a relaxing hour or two alone.  Just please always leave the area clean and comment here, or by email* what you were able to see.  Happy Hawking to ALL.

THINGS ARE LOOKING UP!

Reach Jimmy at TenacBirder@comcast.net

Thanks to all!!!!

Never a Bad Day

Like many of the watches farther north of us, the number of hawks seen dimenished greatly. Much to Jimmy's surprise, the lack of lift early in the morning, didn't equate to lower flying hawks.  So either they got up into the deep blue, or there simply weren't as many hawks flying near our location.  With great help, Harold Birch and Bill Holt, we should have seen something moving through above us at visible levels. 

We did manage to have a total of 51 raptors migrating, of which 41 were Broad-wings.  Two beautiful Adult Bald Eagles meandered South at a slower speed than the upper winds have carried them in recent days, so we were able to watch them for a little while.  The sun made their lovely tails and heads simply neon white!  So all in all, though we are getting a bit weary, seeing hawks moving through makes the day a success.  And on any day we weren't hoping for hundreds...51 which included a Kestral, and Eagles...was a great Hawk day.

A few clouds this morning.  Wish we were able to be there a little earlier.  Gotta go!

THINGS ARE LOOKING UP!

Good Morning

Just a comment - Layered Clothing is a must if you come to the hill these days.  Cool mornings can feel a bit cooler if winds blow at the higher elevation, but direct sun warms to unbearable temps, when you are out in it with no shelter, even at only 80 degrees.  Prepare for at least a 20 degree change over the day.  Mostly sunny....Pray for a few clouds.

It Pays to Watch the Weather Channel!

Today was another banner Hawk-day, even though the fog and clouds were almost noon lifting higher than the ridge and burning off in the valley.  We arrived early, while it was still socked in, because we hoped to spend some time focusing on the accipiters, and falcons that we knew would not mind flying  early, or low across the tree tops.  That's exactly what happened. The first raptors of the morning were accipiters which accompanined a lone BW, and danced along the tree tops on the ridge, and disappeared on the other side, so we couldn't see them migrate through. Not countable, but just what we expected to see. 

We spend a lot of time giving great conditions for the large movements of Broad-winged Hawks and sometimes neglect to tell you, that accipiters, falcons, harriers, osprey and eagles, don't rely solely on those conditions to fly through on migration.  They also may avoid the kettles and thermals all together, never relying strictly on lift and rising wind currents.  Many zip through on the high winds, and some just wing their way past.  The Bald Eagles seem to defy gravity, seldom needing to flap. But if they need to, they will.  So don't be confused by the information we give that applies most ususally to BW's, and think you can't see other hawks on less than great conditions.  Rainy days are just miserable to everyone, hawks included.  But low clouds, and drizzle don't always prevent us from having a great accipiter/falcon day.

Loved having visitors today, and Jimmy said to tell Carolyn that she was there during the time we saw 454 Broad-wings. Just an FYI.  Welcome to you and Phil (the Snows, from Loudon Co. TN), and their guests Iva Kate and Tony Hopper, from Alabama. We were thrilled that Charles Murray, who comes faithfully every chance he gets, was finally able to see a nice size kettle and quite a few streaming through.  It was a joy to see his persistance pay off.  Late in the day, Lora McBride was able to drop in from work.  She came on a day when picking specs streaming through got her hooked, and she got us on another Peregrine Falcon, her first on the hill, and possibly a life bird.

Our counts just couldn't get accurately done without more eyes than just mine and Jimmy's, and we owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to the fact that Harold Birch was really in hawk watch mode today.  We are all tired, but he was getting on the incoming steams of BW's one after another.  THANK YOU, SO MUCH, for being by our side. He continued to hold up his binocs even after his neck was hurting, when I just couldn't.  We owe a lot of today's count to him.

So here are the numbers, and I thought that it would be interesting to you, who are not able to be there, to see how the hours went.  I'll just break down the Broadies.  Jimmy puts the numbers from each viewing into parentheses, with the time beside it.  I will not do the minute by minute... but will give you a glimpse into the hour by hour:

• 12:00 hr. ____ 1, 1, 1, 2, 1, 38, 105, 23, 3, 8, 2________Total:185
• 1:00   hr. ____ 1, 116, 23, 30, 90, 73, 71, 18, 3, 29_____ Total:454
• 2:00   hr. ____ 2, 2, 25, 16, 17_____________________ Total: 62
• 3:00   hr  ____ 1, 22, 15, 1, 4, 3,22,2,25,4____________Total: 100
• at 3:38 the BW's ceased to fly through at heights we could see them.  Or they were flying further west of us...if there were any.

Total Broad-winged Hawks for the day was 801.

Now if you add my above listed numbers and don't get Jimmy's totals, just know I missed something, but you get the general picture.  Today was a "general rule" breaker.  Our largest number of hawks came through during what we often call "the lull." The usual middle of the day, when Bw's are too high or in the blue to see them.  We sometimes take that time to eat, rather than strain for the birds sometimes too difficult to ID. Also, the sun is right there!  Not good to land binoculars into that very often. That is not to say we don't try to keep an eye to the sky.  Many a tuna sandwich has lured in a couple hundred hawks that can't be missed! LOL And today was one of those days.  Mainly, because the weather broke late, the hawks hadn't gotten to extreme heights.

We began to count Red-Shouldereds and one Red-tailed Hawk today, as well.  There have been an abundance of them hanging around like locals lately.  But the ones we counted were very high, and went from sky to sky sailing like they were late to the party.  They were meaning business.  It was obvious they were on migration.

These are the totals for the day;
BW's                  801
RS                          2
RT                          1
S/S                          3
CH                          2
PG                          2
Un ID'd Raptor       1
B/E                          5
N/H                         1
__________________
Total countable    818

Highlight for me today, were the two Peregrine Falcon's, and the late in the day Northern Harrier.

For info on the abbreviations used above, see the Raptor Species link on the right side of the page.

We are a lot off our big numbers from last year, in spite of a lot of coverage.  But after checking previous years, some of our best days were September 27- 29th.  So we aren't counting this year out just yet.

The next two day may bring many more hawks coursing over us.  Just hope we have enough clouds to see them.  Happy Hawking!

THINGS KEEP LOOKING UP!
                          

THE FINAL PUSH FOR BROAD-WINGED HAWKS

A mix of clouds and sun, with light winds out of the North, following a front which produced no flight rains ---
By now you may know that it means there may be hawks sitting north of us waiting for some thermals, or anxious to come through along the updrafts from the ridge.  A little too much wind and they will zip past in a few moments, but which ever way they are flying today..we must be there to see them.

This week will wind down our intense manning of the hawk watch, as we hope to see the great final push of Broad Wings in migration this season.  There should be an increase in the numbers of certain other raptors, with far less kettling and thermalling and congregating going on.  Now through the weekend will be some of the last few days Jimmy and I can man the hours intensely. Historically, the greatest numbers of BWs have already past us.  But who knows how warmer weather will affect the numbers coming past us this season.  Did we miss the big numbers because blue skies camoflauged the streaming flights of hundreds at great heights last week? Did they fly along an eastern or western ridge? Or are they yet to come? 

It's those kinds of questions that keep us going back.  Always hoping to see more of the amazing journey of life that has gone on for centuries on end. We hope some of our visitors are getting hooked on helping to know the answers.  If you only select one week to look for Broadwings kettling in your neck of the woods, consider where you are in relation to the hawk watch. Are you a couple of hours north of us? Focus your prime week a few days earlier than ours.  Georgia and Alabama friends, maybe this will be YOUR big week, if hawks seen along more easterly ridges are sitting somewhere waiting to make their westerly push over your state.  Without watchers, we cannot know.  So keep looking up.

We hope to arrive this morning by about 10am.  Clouds and a chance of rain this morning will slow things down a bit.  But we want to be sitting there as it clears. If you arrive early,  watch the ridge and the valley for the accipiters which love to hug the bank.  Practice your skills of looking for the flap, flap glide of their flight pattern.  Sharpies and Coopers Hawks are the accipiters, small with long tails.  Coopers are the ones with the white edge along the tip of its curving tail.  If the white rump patch is very large, the illusion is that the bird is towing a ball. Their classic sillouette, is wings often look swept back, making a round bullet tip shape when they are not flapping.  You may not see the clear outline of the head of a Sharp-shinned extending beyond that wind arc.(at a distance)  But you ususally can see a little of the head on the Cooper's Hawk.  The Sharp-shinned Hawk has a more squared end to it's tail, and often appears longer in proportion because it lacks the white on the end.  It too can have a dominant white area on the tail near the body.  Remember that males and females are significantly different in color in many hawk pairs.  Come prepared to look for different behavoir in accipiters than in Broad-wings.

They will make the large kettling circles too, to get lift, but generally not in such great numbers in our area.  Remember, that other hawk watches may observe a variable set of hawks and circumstances than ours.  Some of the things we teach about our watch, may be significantly different at another place.  Hawks may come through a coastal watch in a much different way than over a ridge for instance. And by the time they are streaming through lower Texas, they aren't seen casually flipping dipsy-doodles to eat dragon flies, like we see. They are on a mission by then to get out of Dodge. LOL
Bring your TUNA sandwiches!!!

THINGS ARE LOOKING UP!

Conditions Not So Good

Hawks may not be so inclined to move over the next two days.  It's entirely socked in here this morning at the house.  We expect rain to the west by days end.  If they move they may move along a N/S line.  Most open skies may be E of us.  But if they make their Westerly turn near our watch, we could see them slipping in to rest on the plateau to sit out the rains in the early afternoon. Not the best conditions...but it all depends on where the hawks are and  how dense the clouds.  Midday may allow for some viewing.  Probably a short day today. Tommorow, we are taking a break for the rain.

10:00 am update - Due to rain in the valley, where it continues to be entirely socked in, we have not left for the hill.  There appears to be such a small window for hawk flight it is discrectionary to wait. If conditions don't improve, we may not use the gas today for a couple of hours of viewing.  If you made your way there anyway.  Please let us know what you see, even if it is nothing.  All reports have value.

421 Broad-winged Hawks Makes over 1000 in 2 Days

Monday, 9/23/2013
We began the day, arriving about 10:30 with virtually clear skies from horizon to horizon.  The morning temps of  about 57* rose into the 70's quickly.  But it was after noon before we began to see kettles of BW's.  A kettle of 19 blinked in and out of the haze over the ridge, and we thought we had lost it, until it suddenly appeared in the skies just to our right and slightly south of us, as so many other birds had done all day.  Their flight path changed very little today, and we spent a lot of time looking over our shoulder, or turned to the South to catch them dropping from the heights before they headed W/SW. Harold Birch was once again our wingman.  It was a good day. 421 Broadies put us over the 1500 mark. We need 275 to go past 2000 for this year.  Wednesday rains, may mean another banner day on Thursday.  We will watch the fronts.  Big misses so far include a Harrier. We will be on the lookout. Only a few days to go.

• 421 Broad Wings
•     2 Sharpies
•     2 Coopers
•      1 Bald Eagle

HAPPY HAWKING!   THINGS ARE LOOKING UP!

Our daily birds have included several great looks at Red-headed Woodpeckers. Always a treat.

We Are 150 Away from 1500 BW's YTD

Jimmy posted the following to TNBIRD:

Monday 9-16-13 We saw 191 Broad-winged Hawks   Harold Birch and Jimmy & Cynthia Wilkerson  (5.75 hours)

Tuesday 9-17  Harold Birch counted 18 Broad-winged Hawks and 1 Osprey   (4.75 hours)

Wednesday 9-18  Jimmy & Cynthia were visited by Pete & Marg Krampee  we saw 171 Broadie's  (5.00 hours)

Thursday 9-19  Harold Birch and Jimmy & Cynthia were visited by Lenny Kafka and Charlie and Susan Corn. We saw 44 Broad-winged Hawks and also counted an early Red-shouldered Hawk

Friday 9-20  Harold and Jimmy & Cynthia saw: 15 Broad-winged Hawks, 3 Sharp-shinned Hawks, 2 Cooper's Hawks and 1 Osprey

Saturday 9-21 was pretty much a total rain out until the last hour of the day.  Bill Holt and Lora McBride had about one half hour of blue skies but never saw any migrants.

Sunday 9-22-13 was our best day so far this season!  The skies were washed clean of haze earlier in the day.

• Temps were from 66 degrees at 1000 up to 77 degrees at 1800.
• Barometric Pressure 29.90 dropped to 29.87
•  Humidity dropped from 65% down to 43%
• Wind was variable at times but mostly from the North to Northeast up to 12 MPH
• Visibility ranged from 40 kilometers to 45 K and then back to 40 K
• Cloud Cover was off and on from 0% to 5% making it extremely hard to see birds in the clear blue skies.

We had many wonderful visitors to include: Lora McBride, Bob Saunders and Millie his wonder dog, Pete & Marg Krampee, Ruth Ann Henry, Kathy Andregg who drove up from Acworth, Georgia, Charles Murray and Carla Quinn brought her parents Martha and Ben Hall.

 Jimmy & Cynthia along with Bill Holt logged: 622 Broad-winged Hawks, 3 Sharp-shinned Hawks, 1 Cooper's Hawk, 1 Osprey and 3 adult Bald Eagles.(assisted by our count helpers)

...SPECIAL RECOGNITION needs to go out to Lora McBride who helped us get on so many of the single specks as well as several kettles.  Pete Krampee no doubt has a special ability to just look up and see specks the rest of us needed binoculars to see.  Marge Krampee also got on a group of near 100 birds while others were looking at another 100 in the opposite direction.  

Year to date we have seen:

• 1353  Broad-winged Hawks
• 4  Osprey
• 11  Sharp-shinned Hawks
• 3  Cooper's Hawks
• 2  American Kestrels
• 1  Peregrine Falcon
• 5  Bald Eagles < 4 adults, 1 sub adult, 4th. year >
• 1  early Red-shouldered Hawk
• 1 un-identified accipiter

If you've stuck with me thus far, from the bottom of our hearts THANK YOU! to Louise Zepp for her wonderfully spectacular article in THE TENNESSEE CONSERVATIONIST  about our special place we call Soddy Mountain Hawk Lookout.  She is a unique writer and was factual to the last degree in every word she wrote and also the photo layout she selected. [Thanks Vicki Henderson for your  great kettle of BW’s(pic), C.]

Jimmy Wilkerson

Hamilton Co., Hixson, TN

_____________________________________________________

Note: Visitors to the watch came in response to the article in THE TENNESSEE CONSERVATIONIST , TnBird, and GABO posts, and from the TOS membership.  We appreciate the opportunity to reach interested watchers from these groups.  We also had motorcyclists, hikers, and bicyclists today.  So many of our watchers, also love butterflies, wildflowers, and birding .  It’s so lovely to find the variety of inspirations and reasons why people come. Was so much fun seeing our "newbies" see kettles of BW's, and great close up's of Red-Tailed Hawk locals. Welcome and Come again!   C.

Highlight of the day for me, was the adult Bald Eagle that led us to a kettle of Broadies in blue skies. Simply beautiful!

 THINGS ARE LOOKING UP!

THIS IS THE DAY!

This is the kind of day we talk so much about on the hawk watch.

• Cold Front moving through
• Socked in by rain the day before
• NE to NNE winds,10mph or less
• A few clouds
• A drop in temps
• September 20 thru September 30

Broadwings have traditionally made an appearance in years past on these dates under these conditions. Rain usually backs them up north of us,because they don't fly in heavy rains. The cooling temps seem to trigger their inner urge to migrate.  Winds out of the N/NE give lift and lesson head winds resistance.  Sun warmed pavement near the ridge provide thermals that the feilds and trees don't after a rain.  And a few clouds help us see them as they get high. 

If there are Broad Wings ready to move through our area, conditions could be perfect today for seeing them.  Just hope we don't have too much blue sky, or too many foggy/hazy conditions either.  Don't expect much until after 11 am today, but who knows.  Also, Jimmy is banking on late today, or tomorrow because the hawks may need time to fly down to here.

We will see!

On Friday, September 20, we saw 15 BW's all day, under cruel blue skies. But, there was also some movement among the other species: 2 Sharp-shinned, 2 Cooper's, and 1 Osprey were countable.  1 Bald Eagle and 2 more Sharpies were not.

Saturday was a rainout.

THINGS ARE LOOKING UP!

The greatest Mass of BW's ever!!! But NO COUNT

This week has been a little slower than we expected because we have primarily been counting Broad-wings as singles up to 3 or 4 at once, generally flying across the sky without pausing to thermal.  Many have been far along the horizons and along the tree tops rather than overhead. 

On Tuesday, Sept. 17, our long time partner and friend, Harold Birch  filled in a few hours and saw 18 BW's and 1 Osprey.

On Wednesday Sept 18, we had 171 BW's and I have a story to tell you about the uncountables.

And today, Thursday Sept. 19, we struggled to pull out 44 BW's and we counted 1 Red-shouldered Hawk.

Yesterday morning, we stayed about an hour and saw one BW before the skies became totally socked in with clouds.  Knowing how uninclined hawks are to flying on a truly cloudy day, we decided to drive west and stop at the Hang-gliding Flight Port of the Tennessee Tree Toppers Club, to look off into the Sequatchie Valley and see how far the cloud cover went.  There was no sky visible for as far as we could see in any direction, so after checking out Window Rock, we drove back East on 111 expecting to go home.  But when we neared Jones Gap Road, the skies were beginning to clear. We decided to drive back out to the hawk watch, and sit long enough to eat lunch, then decide whether to stay.  As the skies continued to clear, we began to see a few Broad-Wings, so we settled in for the count.  No large kettles,but a semi steady flow of a few at a time kept us busy.

I scanned behind me, and sat back into my chair late in the afternoon, and spotted a very distant Red-tailed local kiting near the electric pole on the hill.  I strained to look at it between the wires, just to be sure, and saw deep in the haze behind him, what we have come to call, a kettle of hawk specs "blinking" in and out of the haze and clouds.  I really strained to see the tiny hawks, whose entire kettle fit into a tiny oval between the wires.  I commented that I didn't know how to count hawks I really couldn't see. And as we have done in the past I verbally noted that we needed to keep an eye on them watchng to see if they came out of the haze so we could see them well enough to get an accurate count.

Jimmy was having difficulty getting on my RT, much less the blinking BW's, so I swung my Binocs back to the pole to give him reference points. I noticed a much larger field of blinking hawks. As I helped Jimmy with bearings, I realized that if I could see any of these hawks, I really needed to count as many as I could.  Back to the original kettle which had gained enough altitude to be coming out of the haze, I actually counted 33 and followed by counting down through the remainder of the kettle to get an estimate before they were forever lost into the clouds. 10- 20-30 etc to 100. 133 and they were gone.  Straining to see if they emmerged higher Jimmy was able to count 40 of them through a break  in the clouds before they once again dissappeared. I saw where he was counting from, and thought, just maybe we could see them again in a bit if they flew SW.  As I scanned back along the SW horizon, the mass of shadowy silhouettes milling about in the hazy soup took my breath away. All I could say was, OMG! From about half way from the house to at least that far again past the pole, and half the height of the pole up into the sky above it was a massive cloud of indecernable hawks.  They were so dense in the sky that the haze looked like it was crawling, and writhing.  There were glittering flashes of the wings, but the birds were transparent in the haze.  When I compared the tiny spot in the sky where I just counted 130 hawks, I realized there were at least 15 times that many hawks out there, and possibly hundrends more!  Because of the haze and clouds and the extreme distance, I couldn't even see individuals, much less count them.

I wondered if we could see some of them before they totally vanished by looking through the scope, but by the time Jimmy was able to focus it in their direction, the clouds had encompassed the entire mass.  Jimmy asked me how many could I guess were there, and all I could do was feel an overwhelming loss.  How do you guess or estimate or even assume you could possibly know how many there were when: 1. I have never seen that many hawks  at one time on our hawk watch, and 2. I literally never actually saw a single one of those blinking in the haze.  All I could see was what looked like the sky was moving and the glitter of what could have been 3000 or more sets of wings, which were flashing in the sun. I genuinely believe that we missed seeing the most remarkable number of hawks ever recorded at our site, but I have no idea how to honestly say how many there might have been.

I have always said I was just waiting for the day that we had more hawks than we could actually count.  But I never really wanted to go home knowing we had more hawks than we could actually count, but we actually could not even see them to count them. I have had those shadowy kettles of hawks that I was remorseful over them slipping away into the heights of the blue sky, or the morning haze, or the afternoon clouds.  But never have I had so many, that it was actually the largest number of hawks I ever saw at one time outside of Texas. I knew they were there because I could see their movement.  I have seen that many times before and watched and waited for the distant birds to come nearer. But these were not on a path to come nearer. They had slipped in from behind clouds along the ridge, and were aready heading west/SW getting harder and harder to see even the flashing of their wings, and the white flash of their under belly as they banked and turned.  There were no shapes to make out. Just a huge irregular writhing mass.

Jimmy wanted to write them down as 500+ but even that would be a gross under estimate.  But we genuinely don't know any way to put an actual number to them.  So they may not go down in the records at all.  It's only right. What you can't count, or at least give an educated estimate...you can't list.  I just know I will forever want to see that again, only close enough to have the dilemma of how to count all the ones I can see. LOL
Happy Hawking ---THINGS ARE LOOKING UP!  

Update for the Week 9/17

Jimmy posted the following to TNBird, to update through Sunday.  A little more info there than I have listed so far.  Add to it the 191 BW's from Moday Sept. 16 (see yesterday's post)  And you can catch up for the week. Therefore I am copying his post to here. Sorry we can't be on the hill today.(Tuesday.) But we expect to fill our chairs Thursday.    Need a break from the sun anyway.

If you go up, sit awhile and email, or comment below on what you saw while you were there. Non raptor species also accepted.
Happy Hawking!
___________________________________________________________________
Soddy Mtn. Hawk Watch
Hamilton co.
near Chattanooga, Tn.

We began out first weeks watch on Tuesday Sept. 10, 2013 I saw: 1- Broad-winged Hawk (6.25 hours) Jimmy Wilkerson
Wednesday Sept. 11 we saw: 1- Broad-winged Hawk (4.25 hours) Jimmy & Cynthia
Thursday Sept. 12 we saw: 3- Broad-winged Hawks and 2- Sharp-shinned Hawks (3.50 hours) Harold Birch, Jimmy & Cynthia
Friday Sept. 13 nothing seen; (0.50 hours) coverage due to Doctor appointments I later was informed Phil & Carolyn Snow stopped by for 20 minutes but no one was there.
Saturday Sept.14 we saw: 170 Broad-winged Hawks; 2 Sharp-shinned Hawks; 2 American Kestrels; 1 peregrine Falcon and 1 Ad. Bald Eagle (8.00 hours)
Saturday Sept. 15 was also a Chattanooga Chapter field trip in which Andrew Theus joined regular counters Bill Holt and Jimmy & Cynthia
Sunday Sept. 16 we saw: 117 Broad-winged Hawks; 1 Sharp-shinned Hawk; 2 Osprey and a 4th year Bald Eagle (5.50 hours) Ruth Ann Henry and Charles Murrray
joined Jimmy and Cynthia.

Directions: from downtown Chattanooga take Hwy. 27 for approximately 20 miles. At Soddy Lake park the road will split with 27 going toward Dayton. Hwy 111 also splits left here going toward Dunlap. Take Hwy. 111. At the top of the mountain (1st. exit) which is Jones Gap Road exit, turn left and cross over the bridge, in 2.1 miles Jones Gap will make an unexpected left turn, make that left turn, continue for .2 miles to the dead end. We are up the hill on flat ground. note: if you had continued on you would then be on Burchard Road. Do not continue on Burchard Road!

Jimmy Wilkerson
Hixson, Tn.

Monday, September 16th - A Broadwing Parade

A NOTE: IF YOU ARE SEEING WORDS DOUBLE UNDERLINED ON THIS BLOG OR ANY OF MY OTHER SITES, PLEASE NOTE THESE LINKS ARE NOT BEING PLACED BY JIMMY OR MYSELF, AND WE DON'T RECOMMEND YOU GO TO THEM!!!

 Today on the hawk watch hill, Jimmy, Harold Birch and I (Cynthia) watched a consistant parade of Broad-winged Hawks and only BW's flow silently through on their yearly trek almost nonstop. It began with only one, which appeared to lift from the trees behid us, on the ridge along the hill through which Hwy.111 is cut.  It was large and close and beautiful in the morning sun that was still low in the sky.  We seldom went more than a few minutes before spotting at least one more BW crossing the not so helpful sky.  There was very little lift, anywhere along their path.  The earliest birds would wander around in a small thermal, gaining a couple of hundred feet for all their effort, only to lose it all almost as soon as they flew off the top in their more westerly directions. 

After midday, we no longer could see most of them with our bare eyes, and at least one kettle formed and kettled to good heights out over the valley, as we looked in the directon of the Watts Bar Nuclear plants rising steam.  There were lots of nice clouds scattered about. I felt that we wouldn't miss birds for lack of perfect viewing conditions.  But as this kettle of BW's gained height, it disappeared into the clouds so far out that we couldn't count them, because they didn't fly off the top and stream into our direction before the entire kettle disappeared. We could only hope they flew in our direction instead of heading due west, if we had any chance of seeing them again.  Jimmy asked me to estimate how many, which after all the years of doing this I am becoming more confident to do. But we wouldn't record the number just yet. We would wait and hope to see them again. I guessed 34, maybe 35, 36.

Within 15 minutes a stream of birds appeared, on approach directly toward us, as if they were dropping in on a gentle glide from the top of a very high thermal. It soon became obvious this was the kettle we watched disappear into the heights, as pepper flake specs, minutes before.  We counted them several times, because they flew through slowly spread apart across the path they took, and we scanned across their path determined to capture every one for the record.  There were 36.  I believe it was our largest kettle.  But this kettle was the prime example of how we counted most of our birds today.

Most seldom kettled, at least not for long. Rather they streamed through often 3 here and 2-4 there, led by a single bird, and followed by a single bird, scattered widely across the sky. They seemed in no hurry, but once they made that turn that typically proved they were in migration, they tucked wings and bulleted into the west or southwest  as tiny specs once again. Some paused just behind us to gain a little elevation before moving on, just as the first bird of the morning had.

Some which were close, skirted the tree tops, as if dancing along their tops.  I wished we had a new birder with whom to share the experience. No one who would have come today, would have left not having seen their fill of lovely Broad-wings.

THE TOTAL: 199 BW Hawks

That's it. Oddly...no other migraing hawks or raptors.  Not an osprey, or falcon, or accipitor that we could count.
There were local Red-tailed Hawks kiting, a Red-shouldered Hawk calling behind us which never showed its face, and one local Cooper's which dive bombed a Turkey Vulture like a falcon dropping out of the sky.  Many Blacks and Turkey Vultures tested the wind and sought out food.  And there were butterflies, dragonflies, Hummingbirds, and Chimney Swifts darting about everywhere.  Seldom a boring minute today.  Just a neck breaking, arm aching wonderful day!

Can't be there tomorrow, (Tuesday), so anyone who gets up there, please stay, and report what you see while you are there.  Thanks for your continued interest. 

THINGS ARE LOOKING UP!

Opening Week for the 2013 Season

This week on the watch has been slow. But it's early. This week has been our first official week of the 2013 season.  We were rained out on two afternoons and were not able to be there on Friday. Jimmy was up alone on Tuesday as his first day. Only 1 Broad-winged Hawk.

On Wednesday, I joined him and again we had only 1 Broad-winged Hawk. 

On Thursday, September 12, Harold Birch was there when we arrived. Things were looking up. (No pun intended. LOL) We saw 3 Broad-winged Hawks, and 2 Sharp-shinned Hawks, before the rains shut down our afternoon.  If it were prime season, we might have sat the rains out in the car, but numbers weren't promising.

On Friday, September 13, we were unable to be there due to previously scheduled doctors' appointments.

But today, September 14, was a successful count day.  We began the day, just Jimmy and I, wondering if we would see anything, because the skies were totally blue.  And clear all the way to Kingston, where the ghostly twin stacks stood as the furthest thing on the north horizon.  Watts Bar was visible to the naked eye, as were all the layers of mountains from the Texas Knobs toward Lookout Mtn.  There was almost no wind, and there were few of the usual dragonflies, butterflies and Hummingbirds that capture our attention away from the hawk specks.  Bill Holt joined us about 11:00 and we teased him for ordering the blue skies, but were incredibly happy for the new set of eyes.
 Also joining us today was a student at Collegedale, Andrew Theus, who proved to be a quick study of what to look for and where. An 11 year birder from Columbus, Georgia, his skills proved to be invaluable today.  He helped get us on a number of birds we might have missed otherwise. Since he had never visited a hawk watch before, he left saying how amazing the "blink-in/blink-out" magic act of whole kettles of hawk could be.  Hawks seemingly appeared in the sky,kettled as if they wanted us to notice, and promptly dissolved into the atmosphere.  Not unusual in blue skies, but certainly a learning experience for a newby's first day. Great Job Andrew!
We also had two neighbors drop by to visit just as we were able to show them a small kettle.  They will certainly have high expectations next time they drop by.
For the entire day, we viewed more hawks looking behind us than from our ususal north facing stance. We couldn't figure out how so many could consistently get past us and suddenly appear out of nowhere to  the south. 

We had 170 Broad-winged Hawks
                2  Sharp Shinned
                2 American Kestrals
                1 Adult Bald Eagle
                1 Peregrine Falcon
                1 unidentified Accipiter
                Total Countable Raptors: 177

Our total birdcount, which included songbirds and raptors was 25 species. 

Be sure to contact us if you are on the hill and see Hawks when we are not there!

NEW HAWK WATCHERS: bring a chair, water, snacks, lunch, and binoculars if possible.  By all means don't forget the sunscreen and most protective lip gloss you can find.  There is no shade, there are no public facilities.  Some bring shaded chairs or strap umbrellas to their scopes. Be prepared for possible cooler temps, and wind.  Expect to sit a couple of hours for hopes of seeing something.  Even then, there is no guarantee. Make special plans for the day after a cold front, especially if it rains for one entire day. The backed up hawks will be anxious to get moving south.

 

Often the raptors we count are not visible without binoculars, therefore, it is imperative that we scan the sky with binoculars to get reasonable counts. (That amounts to hours with your arms in the air, and your head tilted back). The more counters, the more sky can be covered, but on a busy day, it is necessary that we monitor the numbers from all areas of the sky. With only 2 counters, migrants are certainly missed, particularly the ones that fly through the valley lower than we are generally looking.

 Because hawks move, they may kettle more than once in different areas of the sky, and can be counted twice or 3 times if their flight direction after leaving the kettle isn't carefully monitored. Sometimes on busy days, it is very helpful to get a number of people counting the same kettle. Several people confirming numbers keeps the records accurate.  I have learned over the years that once a kettle is found, it is necessary to scan out way in front of it to catch missed birds that have already flown off the top in the migration direction. Often while others are counting the kettle, I can pick up a string of birds that would otherwise be missed. I ususally count 1-from the first bird I can see way off to the west, back into the top of the kettle, 2- count the kettle as it streams off, and then 3-scan behind the kettle, (off to the east or NE,) to pick up stragglers, or new birds, flying into the thermal where the kettle had formed. All the regular counters have become pretty good with this and our numbers will often be identical or to within 2 or 3 birds. I ususally make a mental note of how many birds I counted out front of the kettle, for comparison to the number we come up with in the kettle. In this way I can know if there is any over count.

 The birds that seem so small in the picture above picture, are far from the smallest specks we count. Often they are only specs in our binoculars - thus totally invisible to the naked eye.  Think of how small a jet plane is in the distant sky. Then consider about how many small hawks might fit in that space flying around. It could be a couple of hundred, easy.
If all those hawks are moving around in a funnel shaped air shaft, they can't be accurately counted. Therefore, our best counts, when large numbers of hawks are kettling, is to count as the hawks fly away from the top of the kettle in the direction  of their migration. When they reach the upper heights of what the funneling rising air will lift them, hawks set their wings and peel off.  Usually from one to 4 or 5 at a time. Then they almost play follow the leader, generally following wind currents at that height. This is when we count them, if possible. Smaller kettles, we count down through the kettle. It takes a little time to learn how not to count birds more than once.

 We are often asked, and asked ourselves in the beginning, "How do you count hundreds of birds." The answer is the same across the counting community. Ususally, by 5's. If it isn't possible to count by ones, capturing them in groups of 5's moves you through several hundred birds quickly. Counters in Texas, literally count tens of thousands by 5's using clickers, and not holding the numbers in their heads. They actually lay flat on their back to count as the birds stream through. they have a separate individual or two, who pick out individual birds from the thousands of Broad Wings, or which fly by their own paths.

Migrating Raptors, who gain lift from the rising funnels of air, may maintain that altitude on rising air currents for a very long distance. They use the lift to help not use their wings as much as possible.  However, when the air is not providing long stretches of lift, we have seen them fly of the top of a kettle, where air is rising and begin a rapid desent over several thousand feet. If we have time to watch them all along their path on these days, we will see these birds seeking new funnels of rising air all along their path.