This Was Our Last Scheduled Day

Our last Scheduled definite day to man the watch was today, the last day of September.  We had hoped that the little bit of rain might have caused a last push of Broadies, but they didn't come over our site.

Yesterday, Jimmy eventually went up when the skies cleared and spent about 5 hours there in the afternoon.  His totals were:

6 Broad-Wings
1 Sharp-Shinned
1 Coopers Hawk


Harold Birch went up this morning and this is his report:

"I went up for a while today.  Got there at 10:00.  Fog in valley but blue sky on mountain.  For a while fog reduced and started getting nice clouds.  Around 1200 the fog created a cloud that moved  up and above me.  Covered entire valley but not to the west.  Sometime between 12:30 & 12:45 with foggy clouds overhead, I was looking straight up, resting my head on the chair, hoping to see a hawk fly through my view.  The next thing I knew it was 1:15 and no more foggy clouds.  Had to leave at 2:00.

10:00 64 deg, 96%, calm, 30.00  10% cloud 5K

11:00 70 deg, 81, calm, 29.99, 20%, 8K

12:00 74 deg, 71%, N3, 29.98, 75%, 8K

1:00   79 deg, 60%, N3, 29.96, 25%, 20K

SS at 1123  (south west)
Peregrine 1133, (South)  over head and close enough to see black face markings
BW 1:35 (SW)
BW (4) 1:53  (S)

 Monarchs 10

Cloudless 8

Harold Birch
Soddy Daisy, TN"

***************************************

Jimmy then went up from 3- 5:15 pm, and his numbers were:

1 Broad-wing

No other countables.
___________________________________________________
Combined totals for today were 6.25 hrs,  6 BWs, 1 SS,  & 1 Peregrine Falcon.


Thank you Harold for covering the early hours!!!

***************************************


Our next report will be a YTD.  All other reports for the season will be sporadic as we receive them, or have a chance to go up ourselves.  We express once more our gratefulness for all the extra eyes during the many hours spent there this year.  We feel that the watch was manned for about as many hours as possible for an entire 3 week period.  As many Raptors as could be seen, were gleaned from those days.  It answers for us, how many might be missed by not being on days we expect to not see many. And that answer is: not many.  Single digits for the most part.  Only one day really produced hawks when we didn't expect them.  But several days that we did expect them, left us deflated.  But the hours were covered, and the weather being what it was...hid from us the high flying birds in blue skies or over low clouds.  And as Jimmy says: " We count what we can!"  And that's all we can do.

The blog had 547 page-views this month, with a total of 3,327 views overall.  So excited to be getting the information out for all to see.  The daily records do seem to link us all to what we love. So glad to be sharing with so many great friends!!


Blessings to all.  Be sure to look back a time or two this year, as we expect there to be a few more reports. Before we give a grand Season Total.

We heard good news today from Alix Parks.  The injured Broad-wing is recovering well, and will be releasable  into the migration after all.  Not sure yet if they will carry it to Alabama or release it closer to home.  But we rejoice that it is  doing well. 

Corpus Christi, TX counted over 50,000 Broadies yesterday, but through a dense haze of particles in the sky.  Boy haven't we seen our share of that this year.  Can't imagine having 50,000 blinking hawks. WOW.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=582411212207&set=gm.10152655648180935&type=1

Blessings to all.

The Accipiter, Falcon, and Red-tailed numbers are on the rise at watches North of us.  SOooo, as we always say:

Keep Looking Up!!!!

Update and Totals

Today we ran by the watch for a couple of hours before it closed completely in.  Once when the clouds broke for a bit, we saw 6 Broadies rise from behind the house. It actually appeared that they lifted off from the trees in the distance, rather than flying low and getting lift.  They were relatively close.  We've been joking with one another, between the team, that we had to think harder about the close hawks than the distant ones.  And it's true.  LOL

Today's total - 9 BW's, 2 RT, and 1 SS.

Here's the week's summery and the YTD:

Jimmy's e-mail to TN-bird:

"Hawks seen this week include: 675 Broad-winged Hawks; 1 MISSISSIPPI KITE (juvenile);
10 Sharp-shinned Hawks; 7 Cooper's Hawks; 5 Osprey; 1 Merlin; 1 American Kestrel;
1 Northern Harrier; 3 Red-tailed Hawks; 3 Red-shouldered Hawks; and 3 Bald Eagles
(1 adult/2 immature)for a total of 710 Raptors.

Next week we will be on the lookout sporadically. This past Saturday and Sunday were both 98% cloudy days. Monday 9/29 looks iffy due to predicted rain.  If rain does close us down on
Monday then I suspect Tuesday and/or Wednesday will be our last 2 good days of
significant Broad-winged Hawk numbers.  It's so late in September, quite possibly the
big numbers have already passed us by, this season.  We can always be optimistic though,
you just never know, it's kind'a like Forest Gump's Momma's box of chocolates...

Year-To-Date seen:
2846 Broad-winged Hawks
   1 Mississippi Kite
  24 Sharp-shinned Hawks
  16 Cooper's Hawks
   6 Osprey
   1 Merlin
   2 American Kestrel
   2 Peregrine Falcons
   2 Northern Harriers
   5 Red-tailed Hawks
   7 Red-shouldered Hawks
  15 Bald Eagles  (8 adult/7 immature)
   1 unidentified Buteo
------
2928 Total

also seen but not countable were 1 + 8= 9 Double Crested Cormorants
4+33+148+112= 297 migrating Monarch Butterflies

Keep Looking Up!
Jimmy & Cynthia Wilkerson
http://soddymountainhawkwatch.blogspot.com"

Deep Cloud Cover/Accipiters On The Move

Under deep cloud cover until about 4:30  Jimmy, Bill Haley, Harold Birch and I enjoyed the variety of hawks that will pass on days like this.  I think of these days as Sharpie Days.  Although we only had 5, knowing they would be joined by a variety of other hawks made looking for only one more enticing.

 Not sure if we will go at all on Sunday or Monday.  The threat of rain, is not the same kind of day as today. Cloud cover and rain, usually set even the Sharpies down. 

Today is a long way from  our Biggest Day - in 2009 - of nearly 4000 BW's. Because of days of sun, there have been no back ups of hawks not flying North of us.  They have streamed through day after day, with little obstruction, sometimes above the low clouds we think.  We have been unable to see them due to blue skies or low cloud cover.  And though it seems we are explaining it away day after day, the simple truth is that we cannot see them. Hard as we try, no matter how many hours we spend, if they are able to get lift early in the heat of the day and nothing hinders their flight, they will move on and quickly.

Some quibble about whether they actually fly above the clouds, and how high that might be.  I have watched hawks in all kinds of skies, for enough years now, to have no doubt.  I have seen them flying above the clouds through the breaks in the clouds. I have seen them flying through the clouds from one to another.  Flying into the clouds from blue sky, and thermaling through several layers of clouds.  I even saw them once, streaming under the curl of the anvil of a thunderstorm, looking like a surfer on an ocean wave as they rode the wind rushing through.  One of my favorite memories.

I am going to use the abbreviated terms for listing or counting in this post.  To understand some charts on hawks stats, you need to know the abbreviations.  Find them on our SPECIES KEY page on the sidebar. Can you spot one special bird on the list?

Stats for today: 9/27/2014

BW  12
SS      5
CH     1
ML     1
RS      1
RT      1
AK     1
OS      1

Also seen, was a small flock of 8 Cormorants moving W to E, toward the river. Bill arrived early to warblers, a Catbird, and a Rose-breasted Grosbeak. 

This is the time of year that Broad-wing counts would begin to dwindle, and the numbers of Accipiters should rise.  If we were to continue daily trips up, records would demonstrate this.  There is also a chart on the Species Key page that shows the general movement times for all Raptors.

One more note -
We have always watched the numbers of dragonflies and butterflies moving through as we watch for hawks. In part because they are so obviously there - or not.  Partly, because we know Broadies will snack on dragonflies in flight. (We've seen it numerous times.) Partly, because the most abundant of the butterflies passing by are usually Monarchs.  This year we have had concerns.  The numbers on both things have been low, until today.  A feature on the Weather Channel, showed a mass of Monarchs showing up on Radar, due to the number of them. AT 5,000 FEET out west.  So maybe our missing bugs are high, and may have some influence on the hawks flight levels as well.  Something to consider, but while we are considering,  we count what we can.  Today we saw our first dramatic increase in the numbers of Monarchs. We might not notice if BW numbers were high. No time to count Monarchs, but today we had time.  Bill tallied as we called out each one we saw.  The result was that as the day progressed we saw many more.

Monarch Butterflies  148!

Jimmy and Cynthia Wilkerson

Keep Looking UP!!!!!!

Perfect Setup---???

Today we counted the most difficult 44 Broad-winged Hawks we ever got.  We had a perfect setup - wind, clouds, temps - everything about today said we should be counting our heads off.  But no such luck. Until about 4:00pm, we had seen 8 (2,2,2,2). The next hour dots, bullets and tinies streamed through SW along the path from the pole to above the house.  Same as yesterday.  But sooo few to see.  (9:30 to 5:00) Attributing it possibly to the High Pressure System sitting out there, way too close.

44 Broad-winged Hawks
   1 Sharpie
   1 Red-Shouldered (on a mission!)

Visitors today were: Kent Dubois, Charles Murray, and Bill Haley. 
Harold Birch was our saving grace this afternoon, and sharp-eyed finder. Thank you!!!!



Saw one Bald Eagle again today...going North.   And counted 35 Monarch Butterflies.  That number is way up. Hope we continue to see higher numbers.

See you tomorrow!
Jimmy and Cynthia Wilkerson


Keep Looking UP!!!!

Commas/windows in the outer wing diagnostic or no? Read the article at the link.

A Steady Path

Today, we arrived a little later than usual, to absolute blue skies.  Yet as the day progressed, a few clouds developed, and just as we knew was possible, a steady count of hawks. Anything that passed a cloud and could be seen.   I am sure we missed a few, because it was impossible to cover the whole sky at once, but as Jimmy says, "We get what we can."

Some days it seems like so few when we see so many one or two at a time.  But the day passes quickly.  From 1:00 to 2 we had 78. From 3:00 to 4 we had 92.  The rest of the day obviously was slow, singles  to 4 or 5 at a time.  Mostly singles.

Yesterday, our friend Charles Murray came by.  And Harold sat out the day with us.  Today we were alone all day. It's comforting to know we could pull out a reasonable number even on days with singles.  Jimmy got his new glasses.  He actually was much better able to see a number of the ones that were evading him. It alleviates some of his frustrations.  He was seeing details, much better, as you might guess.

Today's stats:
191 Broad-wings
     1 Sharp-Shinned
     2 Coopers
     1 ABE ( Adult Bald Eagle)

Also seen was 1 Cormorant.  Odd to see only one. 

In the next few days, we may not set anymore records, but we have seen friends and shared hawk-watching, and watched one more migration assure us that some things should never change.  The miracle that moves within a wild thing to go and follow its path year after year.  Never ceases to amaze me, and never makes me happier than to see it healthy.

Keep looking up!!!!!

If Only There Were Clouds

I am posting this morning for yesterday, Wednesday 9/24/14.  The sun was brutal and this was one day we knew, that if we had clouds, we would be seeing birds.  Sometimes we got on groups of Broad-wings that blinked in and out, even though closer than those we usually say blink.  A low haze remained in the sky all day, although thin enough to not disguise strong blue skies. Tiny clouds would form and dissipate in only minutes.  Occasionally, we caught steady streams of Broad-wings, often flying in single file.  Small kettles we would catch during our scans would begin to stream off and just disappear.  I began to understand why ancient people thought of the skies as a mystical place of another worldly nature.  Vanishing birds were the way of the day. 

We managed however to count 161 of them, before the intensity of it finally wore us all out. Gusts of wind began to make us concentrate more on keeping our belongings on the mountain more than keeping our binoculars up.  After about an empty hour, we felt our best look at more would not be until 5 or 6 pm.  So it was time to take a break.

We spotted Bald Eagles again today, as we have every day, but they, and everything else, were going North, or local....except 1 Coopers Hawk.

Hoping Sunday may produce a few clouds ahead of the expected rains Monday and Tuesday.  Wednesday or Thursday may produce our last push of hawks, before Jimmy and I must call it done for regular days on the hill this year. 

Notice the upper right corner where I am updating daily BW totals and Year To Date Totals as often as I am able. Today:

161 Broad-winged Hawks
    1 Coopers Hawk

Year to Date Broad-wings -  2590

Just a note:  our largest day ever was on September 28, 2009, with 8 short of 4000 birds in one day.  It isn't too late to see them. Just need some help from the skies.


Keep Looking Up!!!!

Jimmy and Cynthia Wilkerson

Going up a little later today...maybe by 11 AM.

Two Days, 1 Jewel!

I am posting 4 pictures of blue sky, in this post.  Each has one raptor, each  zoomed to the level of my camera's ability, but is similar to how we see some of our hawks. Can you ID each?   At the end of the post, I will give the answers, with an explanation of the key features that ID the birds.
Above is #1.

I am reposting Jimmy's e-mail here, so if you access both, please forgive. I need to use my time to put up some pictures.  A million thanks to the extra eyes this week!  I will never get tired of having someone help us get on the hawks.  Jimmy begins with Monday's birds.  Please read on through to see what we saw on Tuesday.

Sept 23, 2014
Soddy Mtn
Hamilton Co., TN

On Monday Sept 22 we saw 36 Broad-winged Hawks; 1 Northern Harrier;
4 Osprey; 1 Cooper's Hawk; 1 Red-shouldered Hawk and 2 immature
Bald Eagles.

Visitors and counters were: Harold Birch, Bill Haley, Jimmy & Cynthia;
Clay Seneker and Pete & Marg Krampe.  Pete & Marge have been several
times over the last couple seasons.  Welcome Back!

----

Tuesday Sept 23 we saw 223 Broad-winged Hawks; 2 Sharp-shinned Hawks;
2 Cooper's Hawks and 1 MISSISSIPPI KITE. (Juvenile)  I think Cynthia was the first
to shout out Mississippi Kite, followed by a confirmation by Harold Birch
and then by Mac McWhirter as he has seen several from their farm.  I was
a skeptic to say the least.  Later after replaying in my mind numerous
times I became more convinced.  After getting home and reviewing 4 Raptor
research books I was able to glean enough information that finally seals
the deal for me.  Cynthia and I have seen Ms Kites in Tennessee, Georgia,
Florida and especially in South Carolina.  I'm not sure why it took me so
long to come on board with the rest of the group.  I have seen Ms Kite from
Soddy Mtn before in 2003 when it was identified by Bill Haley when he and I
were alone on the lookout.  One or two days later Roi and Debby Shannon also
saw a Ms Kite, I think they too were on the lookout by themselves.

Visitors and counters today were Harold Birch, Jimmy & Cynthia, Susan & Mac
McWhirter who also brought with them Woody & Becky Woodiel, Woody was a long
time hawk watcher from long ago.  He also used to keep our grass mown so
beautifully WELCOME BACK WOODY!  Counter Clay Seneker was about 30 minutes too late to see the Kite. (But he hung in there 'til day's end.)

#2 Easy one.

Keep Looking Up!
Jimmy And Cynthia Wilkerson


#3

#4

Did you do your best? Many web-sites work at getting pictures from long lens cameras, which show close up details. Those of you who come to our watch site, know that what we are seeing are tiny, often much smaller than these birds, even through our binoculars.  Are there features that will ID these raptors without close detail?  Yes to all 4.

Answers: Going backwards>
#4 - Red-shouldered Hawk --- the "windows" in the outside ends of the wings.  Also, banding in the tail, and the wings are NOT pushed forward.

#3 Red-tailed Hawk --- this bird doesn't have a strong red tail color. So how do we know? Belly band, Patagials, Commas, and Headlights are all very clear on this bird. Definitive. (see Raptors of Eastern North America, by Brian K. Wheeler, pg. 19 for a great explanation of the terms.)

Belly-band - a band of dark feathers that crosses somewhere on the belly. Varies greatly from bird to bird in size, density, and where it crosses the belly.
Patagials - Dark band from neck to wrists along the forward wing.
Commas - Dark comma shaped marking after the elbow, and before the end of the wing.
Headlights - White section immediately after the patagials  on the leading edge of the wing, at the elbow - obviously, looking a bit like headlights when the bird is flying directly toward you.

#2 Bald Eagle --- You might think the White head or tail would be the answer I am looking for.  There are hawks with a lot of white on their tails, and raptors with white on their head. Suppose your bird isn't close enough to really see that head or tail yet. Answer: It's the very wide, plank-like, flatness of the wings, especially in comparison to the head and tail size.  Flat wings looking like an airplane.  However, they do not always present as flat-winged.  Wind speeds and direction can cause them to draw up or flap.  But as often as they can, they don't flap.  They ride the air with little effort,, looking like a flying board with rounded ends.

#1 Broad-winged Hawk --- The paring knife shape of the wings, arched forward.  In this picture, the wings aren't as forward as they would be when they "set their wings" and fly off the top of a kettle.  The silverness of the under-wing.  The strong black line that outlines the wings.  The deep white band adjacent to the outer dark band  on the end of the tail. Wide and bold!  (When banking in a kettle, the flash of white at the rump, which isn't obvious in this picture.) 

Well, how did you do?  Could you pick out the silhouettes, even if they were smaller?  Just as with warblers, you learn to see only certain things quickly.  And under windy or other certain conditions, they don't present these perfect  setups immediately, sometimes. I went through a half dozen shots of these birds to select the perfect shot.  The secret is to watch the birds, note what you are seeing, until the perfect pose is displayed.  Or add the bits and pieces together.  All the clues add up to one bird, most of the time. And then again, we can always be wrong.  All we can do, is make our very best call on what the bird shows us. 

Too far out to see all that? Well, that's another lesson. LOL

Athens, The Red-Shouldered Hawk

 
 

Athens, the Red-Shouldered Hawk

YTD Totals: (see Jimmy's post at the bottom of the page)

Today was an exciting day, because of the release of Athens, a rehabilitated hawk.  Alix Parks and Sherry Teas brought us this magnificent bird, and shared it's return to freedom with us. Broad-winged Hawks were not flying today in numbers as we had hoped, in advance of the front.  But with great friends helping us search the skies, we couldn't have missed many. So when Athens arrived, we were all camera ready, to catch the action!
We dedicate a page, to the release of rehabilitated hawks, which is always ready to view from the tab on the right sidebar: Rehab/Release.  We express our thanks to Tennessee Raptor Rescue   (Now Happinest Wildllife Rehabilitation and Rescue, Inc.,  rehabbers - Alix Parks, and Sherry Teas) whose address, with more information, can be found on the Rehab/Release page. Please consider making a donation to their amazing work.  For now, enjoy some great pictures, seen here now and will also be added to the page for future reference.

First: Stats for today - 6.5 hrs
18 Broad-winged Hawks
1 Sharp-shinned Hawk
1 Cooper's Hawk
1 Adult Bald Eagle
1 Immature Bald Eagle

Watchers and Friends: Roi and Debbie Shannon, Bill Holt, Julie Doyle, Jeffrey Schaarschmidt, Clay Seneker, Gary and Pixie Lanham, Alix Parks, Sherry Teas, Adam Borchardt, Tara Clark and her son, Kallen Clark.

Roi and Debbie Shannon are members of our hawk watch  team from almost the beginning, as are Bill Holt and Harlold Birch.  Clay Seneker has joined us every year for a day or two as well, so we felt right at home with our crew and our TOS friends and visitors.  What a great day!

Alix demonstrates how the hawk must be held in order to avoid those claws.

She then checks flight feathers, to be sure "Athens" didn't injure himself
in the transport box.

 



Alix spred Athens' wings so we might see the diagnostic feature called "Windows" in the extremities.
The lighter patch shows as a white, nearly transparent crescent on the wings outer edge.
If the light makes this feature apparent looking up at a bird, it is our first clue that we are watching
a Red-shouldered Hawk.

Sherry Teas prepares to release Athens.

 

Athens first wing-beats to freedom.

Jimmy, Alix and Sherry discuss the possibility of releasing a recovering
Broad-Winged Hawk.  We may not be able to release it here, but hopefully they will
bring it by.
_______________________________________________________




Soddy Mtn Hawk Watch
Hamilton Co., Tn
Week 2 Summary

The best thing about today was our many visitors and
the release of a rehabbed Red-shouldered Hawk.

Visitors were:  Roi & Debbie Shannon; Julie Doyle; Bill
Holt; Clay Seneker; Jeffery Schaarschmidt a.k.a. S-13
then we had the folks who came to see the hawk release:
Rehabber Alix Parks and Sherry Teas; Gary & Pixie Lanham;
Adam Borchardt; Tara Clark and her son Kallen Clark.

Alix gave each person an up close look at "Athens" the
rehabbed hawk.  As He? was released by Sherry and began to
fly away we were treated to exceptional views of the
happiest and most photographed hawk we saw today.

Earlier in the week we had visitors I haven't mentioned.
They were Bill Haley, our mentor and Soddy Mountain Hawk
Watch originator, and Phil and Carolyn Snow.  Carolyn spotted
a Common Nighthawk which we thought was a first sighting for
SMHW but when our records were checked we found a sighting for
2 Common Nighthawks seen on our best day ever 9/27/09.
Although not counted as raptor migrants it is nice to have
2 records for this species.

Raptors seen today 18 Broad-winged Hawks, 1 Sharp-shinned
Hawk, 1 Cooper's Hawk and 2 Bald Eagles (1 adult/1 immature.)

Total numbers for week 1 and 2 follow.
2171 Broad-winged Hawks
   1 Northern Harrier
  14 Sharp-shinned Hawks
   9 Cooper's Hawks
   4 Red-shouldered Hawks...all migrants, we didn't count ATHENS
   2 Red-tailed Hawks
   1 Osprey
   1 American Kestrel
   2 Peregrine Falcons
  12 Bald Eagles (7 adult/5 immature)
   1 Unidentified Buteo
-------
2218 Total Year to Date
Keep Looking Up!
Jimmy & Cynthia Wilkerson
http://soddymountainhawkwatch.blogspot.com

TOS MEMBERS VISIT OUR SITE

Before I get into today's post, I have an announcement from Gary Lanham, that we are so excited about!!!
"Sherry Teas plans to release a red-shouldered hawk rehabbed by Alix Parks tomorrow (Sunday, 9/20) at the Hawk Watch site on Soddy Mountain.
Directions to site:
Take US 27 ("Corridor J") North from Chattanooga.
Just past Soddy Daisy, go left on TN 111 toward Dunlap.
Take the Jones Gap Road exit and turn left (South) on Jones Gap Road (the first exit after reaching the top of the mountain).
Go 2 miles and turn left to stay on Jones Gap (going straight puts you on Burchard Road).
Go to the end of the road (about 2 blocks), park, and climb an 8-foot hill to the hawk watch site overlooking the bluff (east side of road).
Anyone interested is welcome.

Good Birding!
Gary Lanham"

The scheduled time for Release is is 2:00 pm. Bring your cameras for great closeup shots of a marvelous bird!  Please come in support of their work, if you are able!
_______________________________________________

 

Today was a scheduled TOS field trip for The Chattanooga Chapter, but we had visitors from several areas!  I am so bummed that I missed seeing Roi And Debbie Shannon, our long time Hawk Watch compadres. Today I was forced to stay home from getting too much sun yesterday.  I was dehydrated and a little sun-sick, in need of some time off from the binoculars.  Yesterday afternoon, I had begun to have eye strain, and a little confusion, and woke up today unable to meet the task for the day. So after some rest, I am gearing up for a great day tomorrow!

Thanks to all the fellow birders who braved a clear blue sky with Jimmy today.  After days of good flights, they had the first day when hawks were just not visible.  We have often queried whether they are flying and we can't see them, or they just are flying in an area where a few clouds and better weather conditions channel them into easier flying patterns.  But whatever the case, today was a low count day :(  But our good friend Ken Dubke always said, "Negative data is good data, too."

Today's totals were:
35  Broad-winged Hawks
  2 Sharp-shinned Hawks
   1 Red-shouldered Hawk
   1 Red-tailed Hawk

With Roi and Debbie on the deck, I know nothing viewable was missed this afternoon!  Just sorry for our visitors who were not rewarded with mega kettles. LOL

Welcome, and hope you come again:
Bill and Barbara Allen, Bob Bethel, Jennifer Rydell, Clay Seneker, Roi and Debbie Shannon, and the Lamb Family- John, Cyndy, Patrick, & Samuel.

Appreciate your support!

Jimmy and Cynthia Wilkerson


KEEP LOOKIING UP!!!

_______________________________________________

Check out our "SPECIES KEY" page for the raptor abbreviations key, and a "Raptor Migration Schedule" chart. which gives general times to expect certain species to migrate past us.

Visitors from Around the State

475 Broad-wings today!!! Year to date, total BWs: 2118

Jimmy's e-mail to TN bird will be my post this evening, because I am just plain tired.  But before I post it, I wanted to send virtual hugs to our visitors from bird clubs around the state.  Amazing day with friends, cannot say how much you boosted our spirits.  We were dreading a blue sky day, but you not only were amazing company, you were great hawk watching partners!!!

We were short 1 bird of 475 BW's at days end, and everyone, said we need to find one more....And they did! LOL Without these extra eyes, and great birders at that, Jimmy and I would not have pulled this total out of those skies.  Thank you all, so much for coming.

"19, Sept 2014
Soddy Mtn Hawk Watch

On the ride up to the lookout this morning Cynthia and I both
were feeling drained.  The 100% blue skies were not much of a
morale booster either.  We had decided that if the hawks didn't
cooperate we might leave for home early.

As we pulled up someone was already in the parking lot.  Here
was the boost we needed, in fact many people showed up through
out the day and hawk watching was fun...THANKS to all who visited
us.  Arriving before us was Richard & Tarcila Fox with their
"wonder pup", Claire from Goodletsville.  Later in the morning
came Chuck & Lola Estes from Oakridge followed by their friend,
Shane Williams from Knoxville, Bill Holt from Hixson and at the
end of the day Kent Dubois from Signal Mountain.

We saw 475 Broad-winged Hawks with 414 of them seen between 2 and
3pm...(after the clouds decided to show up.) Also seen were 3 Sharp-
shinned Hawks, 3 Cooper's Hawks 1 Adult Bald Eagle and a Peregrine
Falcon that was seen by Richard & Tarcila and Cynthia.

Jimmy & Cynthia Wilkerson
Keep Looking Up!!!!"

The kettles today appeared and disappeared, in and out of hazes both across the valley and high above us.  Several times, Hawks could be found in more than one area of the sky and at different levels at the same time.  Some close, along with many specks, very high.  Challenging to count, but our watchers were so cooperative with separating one from the other.  I was so secure at the end of the day with our count!

 Several who came made the observation that if there were more clouds in vital areas of the sky today, they believed that tiny hawks above us would have been seen and counted.  The watchers today understood completely, that when hawks disappear into blue skies with haze, while you are watching them, there are probably some there that we just couldn't see.

The Record Is Set (50,000 BW's) & 1063 for the Day

Anyone who reads our blog knows we have been reaching out for a record to be set on our hawk watch, for fall migration stats.  Each day we have drawn nearer to a 50,000 Broad-wing mark, for all the years the watch has been manned, by volunteers who love to watch hawks.  This morning early, we reached that landmark hour!

We began the day, needing only 21 more BWs to reach the goal! We arrived, high with expectations, hoping to share the day with our friends who have helped us reach that goal.  Bill Haley who has been with us a couple of days this week, was unable to join us today. He has a bigger agenda:).  But, he called early to see where our numbers stood. Carolyn and Phil Snow helped us this week as well, on the count down. Harold Birch was able to join us again today, early. & Bill Holt came later in the day.  So we felt like our team was still a big part of our big day!

We and Harold arrived at 9:15 AM.  We had -
1  BW at 9:43
1  BW at 9:45
1  BW 9:46 and at
9:49   we had  26 BW's in one kettle - SETTING THE NEW RECORD!!!!!  at 50,008 Broad-Winged Hawks.

Today, our total count for the day was :
1063 Broad-wings
3 Sharp-Shinned Hawks
1 Coopers Hawk
________________________

This brings our total this season to:
1643 BWs to date.

Most of our hawks followed two major routes today, although some were further out than others.
The morning hawks took a western track on the other side of the ridge, which turned to a SW track that ran over the house.  The other track ran down the valley, until just before or over the lake, where large kettles streamed west, SW, and many individuals followed the Southerly track until out of sight.
It was a day to watch onsies and threesies  until they were gone, because they frequently were joined by friends. And sometimes, there were a lot of friends!!!

Large totals included kettles well over 100 Hawks each. Days like today deserve a break down of the hour by hour stats, and I may come back in later and post the hourly totals. Our largest kettle was 195 BWs at 3:59 pm.

One Bald Eagle leisurely played his way west in the distance beyond the ridge, but just didn't seem like a migrating bird to us.  These days, their white heads and tails, gleam in the sun, and we can see their bright yellow legs and bills well, making a black n white bird seem colorful.

Our local kestrel played with dragonflies until he caught one, and landed on the wires to eat it. As he drew down his head over his claws to devour his prey, I was able to see that entire top of his head is white.  It isn't supposed to be. So he must be a Luciestic  (sp?) bird.  That is a partially white bird, that is not an albino.  Many of these occur in various species, in the wild, and more are being noticed as observers become more knowledgeable.

Today was a great day! 

Blessings from Jimmy and Cynthia,

KEEP LOOKING UP!!!!

 Check out Corpus Christi's update: click the link

Jimmy's E-mail to TN Bird:

"18 Sept 2014
Soddy Mtn Hawk Watch
Hamilton Co., Tn

First thing this morning we broke our official record for
Fall Broad-winged Hawks.  At 9:49 26 distant specks became
our record kettle.  At the time that brought us up to 50,008.
50,000 didn't last long.  At the end of the day we had seen
1,063 Broad-wings.  We are now over 51,000.

A 2nd weekly summary will follow Sunday night with the totals
of all hawks we've seen so far this season."

___________________________________________

Just and added note: by Michael Todd, Tennessee Birding Facebook page, posted 9-18-14
Clarksville, TN sighting of a large single sighting of BW's:

"The other highlight of the day was the biggest flight of Broad-winged Hawks I've witnessed in TN. A little west of... Clarksville I noticed a nice kettle of Turkey Vultures, fairly low, about 75 birds. Noticed a few smaller specks higher in the sky as well. I was able to pull over, and what had been a few specks turned into a sky full when I really looked. The main body of Broad-wings covered probably 1/2 mile of sky, at least 650 birds involved, with some I'm pretty sure that had already passed. My camera wasn't accessible at the time, which was a bummer as this isn't a sight we see over here in the flat end of the state too often, not in that number. The last couple of days have produced several excellent Broad-winged counts in TN and KY that have been posted.

On my way home from work this morning, I had an adult Peregrine perched up in a dead snag along I-40 just west of Jackson in the Forked Deer River bottom."

Tomorrow WILL BE Our Record Setting Day!!!

We are 21 birds away from having recorded 50,000 sightings of Migrating Broad-Wing Hawks from the Soddy Mtn. Lookout, for the fall counts!!!

At the beginning of hawk watch season, fall 2014, we needed 601 Broad-winged Hawks to make the record. Today we saw 436, 37 yesterday and 107 last week, bringing us to a present total of 580 seen this season. Tomorrow morning, we will reach our awesome goal!!

Today's stats: Wednesday, 9/17, 2014
436 Broad-winged Hawks      
1    American Kestrel
1    Peregrine Falcon
1    Sharp-Shinned Hawk
2    Coopers Hawks
1    Red-Tailed Hawks
2    Bald Eagles:  1 adult,  1 immature
1    Unidentified Buteo

We had largely high clouds, or clear skies. It got quite hot midday, and it was a bit tough to keep our binocs up from 2 to 4 O'clock, just because of the intensity of seeking hawks we knew should be coming in.  Lower numbers in the morning gave way to larger kettles in the afternoon, and the hawks kept flying, both in kettles and in bulleting singles, all the way up to 6:00 PM.  We had numerous good looks at Bald Eagles going both North and South, of course, causing us to reduce our morning counts appropriately. Who cares? We just love seeing them no matter which way they fly. LOL

Barring winds that carry the hawks somewhere other than over us...weather and conditions indicate flights should be good throughout the day.

Looking forward to crossing the mark!

Doing our best to meet the test,
Jimmy and Cynthia Wilkerson

Keep Looking UP!!!

Plenty of Eyes Tuesday

We welcomed hawk watching friends Bill Haley, Harold Sharp, and Phil and Carolyn Snow (Loudon, TN) to  our watch on Tuesday and hope to see them again today.  With such excellent help, we were bound to see all possible hawks. Well, even the best could miss a few.  But we always say, "More eyes cover more skies." 

Cloud cover changed dramatically through out the day, but was not to yield as many Broad-wings as we hoped. Our expectations remain high for a good count today...unless the skies are solid blue.  As we have said before, high hawks are oh so hard to see in a blue sky.

We had an unusually low flying, unusually dark, large, immature Broad-wing yesterday.  In fact, the only reason we felt absolutely sure to call it, was due to the dark outline, which surrounds the wings of a Broad-wing, was dark and very visible on this bird.  Jimmy also noticed the banding in the tail.  We watched it in awe as it passed close and strait over head.  Bill jested that we were more stumped by a hawk passing close than the specks. And he would be right in my case. I more readily recognize their silhouette and behavior at a distance.  A sitting hawk - sometimes, I would have to look in the book. 

We had wonderful conversation of birding spots out west, and Carolyn had excellent pictures to share of her newest Western species found.  It set our hearts to longing, to see what we haven't seen. A little conversation, helps to liven the longer day. We spent our longest day yet, logging in 8 hours, I believe. Bill arrived around 8:30 AM hoping to capture the "early birds," Falcons, Accipiters, Osprey, etc.  But, alas there were none to show up.  Bummer. We were counting on you, Bill. LOL

We saw several Bald Eagles, but counted only 3. The 3 we could determine were unique from one another. Hope we didn't discount a couple of Adults.  Our local Red-Shouldered family continue to rise up from the trees to escort the other Buteos out of their territory, and on occasion will fuss dramatically at an Eagle or two.  It's all part of the experience!

Tuesday's Totals were:
9-17-2014
Broad-winged Hawks     37
Sharp-shinned Hawks     3
Coopers Hawks               1
Red-shouldered Hawks   2
Bald Eagles                     3


Temps remain in the low 80's, and winds were mild, under 10 all day.

Be sure to check the Watch Totals from around the US, and the remarkable numbers that can be seen each day in certain prime areas. See: Hawk Count for HMANA. And notice the 68,000+ hawks counted yesterday at Detroit River Hawk Watch! WOW.  I will put a link on the sidebar for future reference.

Good birding to ya,
Keep Looking up!!!

Hawk Count Totals across the Nation

 For many of the nations top hawk watch counts check out this site:

http://hawkcount.org/

Note today's count at Detroit River: 68,658 hawks!!!!!!

Jimmy, drew all of the notable watches to the NE of us, all stationed along the Appalachians, along which we believe many of our hawks use the uplifting wind currents to bring them straight to us. And he discovered that if you laid a ruler down, you could draw a line directly to us.  Hawk watching has developed along that line for a reason, because people see hawks migrating along that line. But we often wonder what other hawks come our way.  Impossible to know, as hard as we try, we only assume, guess, speculate.  But from Hawk Mountain all the way to Texas, Hawks on the move can be counted.  And there are huge numbers of them that make that great trek every year.  That's a good thing.

Check the next blog for today's count. Not what we hoped. Maybe tomorrow.
Keep looking up!!!

Fog Too Dense For Flights

This morning's fog hung on until late in the day.  We drove west and found the dense cloud cover continued beyond our ability to wait it out.  After seeing no raptors for a couple of hours, we headed home. The sun broke through for a couple of hours late in the day, and we couldn't get back up.  We did add Bluebirds to our commons list while we were there.  (Were wondering where they were.)  Hummers still streamed through at a steady rate, even through the fog. 

Jimmy found our mascot. Yay!! Mr Owl had blown over the edge of the ridge.  It was below the south end pine in the weeds, and the pole was buried in grass. So he is proudly standing once more, and driving the poor Carolina Wrens crazy!

Virginia hawk sites are reporting counts at 1000-2000 BW's today. Hawk Mtn., way North-east of us 896, I think.  So, we are thinking tomorrow has a great opportunity to produce  larger kettles than what we've seen.  Great expectations, and we hope to have a little help. 

Looking forward to reporting to you tomorrow!

Keep Looking UP!!!

Everyday Is a Good Day

We waited for clouds to clear a bit before going up today.  On Hwy 127, I looked up through our roof window and saw 6 thermaling Broad-wings.  We of course, do not include hawks seen off the site in the numbers we report to you.  Unless we are riding right under the hawk watch up the hill on Hwy. 111.  Because they could be seen from there, if we were there.  LOL  But it was an indicator to us, that we needed to be there as the clouds cleared. Most birds today flew West in singles.

From 1 to 5 o'clock we saw:
32 Broad-wings
  1 Immature and 1 Adult Bald Eagle

Our new countdown number:  494 Broad-wings needed to reach or goal of *50,000 BW's counted in fall migration at Soddy Mtn. Hawk Watch.

A note of interest, we recorded 12 migrating Hummers seen today, 9/14.  They became so obvious, we decided to begin keeping track of some of them when possible. I also saw my first Monarch Butterfly today as well.


Jimmy's Week One Summary:

We started our watch on Wednesday Sept. 10th as planned.  Every day
this past week we were presented with weather delays due to rain and
were only able to get in 16.50 hours over 4 days.  Raptors seen:

107 Broad-winged Hawks
  1 Red-shouldered Hawk
  1 Northern Harrier
  1 Sharp-shinned Hawk
  1 Cooper's Hawk
  1 Osprey
  4 Bald Eagles (2 adults and 2 immature's)

The next two and a half weeks are expected to become more promising.
As posted a few days ago, this season we are looking to break a record
by seeing our 50,000th Broad-winged Hawk.  Currently we stand at 494
broadie's needed to break this record.  Sometime in the future we could
accomplish this goal instantly by counting a single mega kettle!

Keep looking up!!!
Jimmy and Cynthia Wilkerson
Hixson, Hamilton Co., Tn.


Check out the Florida Keys Osprey numbers!

No Flight Patterns Today

Today's count:
49 Broad-wings, one Kettle of 13
1 Sharpe Shinned Hawk
1 Cooper's Hawk
1 Osprey
1 Red-Shouldered

We waited on the complete over cast skies to open up, today, even though we might have had opportunities to see Accipiters earlier. Arriving a little after noon, we found Bill Holt had arrived before us, and already had counted 3 Broad-wings, just as the skies cleared a bit.  That set a tone for the day.

Instead of finding the hawks in a dependable flight pattern, they were appearing any where a bit of blue sky could be seen, as holes in the clouds appeared and disappeared rapidly, in hundreds of segments of the sky. Thank goodness for an extra pair of eyes.  I bet we missed a few birds because of the quickness of the flights of our raptors today. A 15mph NW wind drove them along, and helped them soar to remarkable heights.  In the distant clouds, we watched them become "microscopic" as they soared in kettles  that took them from blue sky up into grey clouds and out the top into the open, with bright white clouds in the back ground.

We watched one kettle of at least 13 birds go higher and higher until it had almost risen as high as the highest clouds, through several layers, before they ever peeled off to the south.  They were less than specks, but too amazing to take our binocs off them.  It took quite a while for them to rise that high, and were very difficult to see, even when they emerged from the clouds. At times, when they disappeared into the deep gray, we just patiently continued to scan the area at a higher and slightly southward place, where they would reappear, thermaling higher and higher, through layer after layer of clouds. 

Why does that even mean anything to me as a hawk watcher?  Well, we have questions like: "Do hawks fly on cloudy days?" Generally,  we consider "socked in" days unproductive, because we can't see many Broad-wings.  But I have now been there on days when-
1. conditions are right and hawks are on the move,
2. when the clouds were breaking up,  and
3. we see the BW's appear suddenly from "nowhere",
-to now know, definitively.
 >They DO fly if the clouds are somewhat low, or are broken and rapidly changing, with blue sky above. But they fly above the clouds, where we generally can't see them. To do so they must have an opportunity somewhere north of us to rise on the thermals to get to those heights. There must also be birds aggressively ready to move.

 We don't always have the chance to actually watch that great feat occur except on days with unique weather like we had today.  Sure we see them rise on thermals, but we generally see them rise to a certain height and peel off the top toward the West or SW from over or just off our ridge.  But many of the Broadies we have seen the last few days were seeking the thermals that formed in spite of the clouds, over highways, and over the river.  Way out over the valley.  From that perspective we could see them mount up through layer after layer of clouds, until they were almost invisible.

The same thermal, seemingly, moves as if traveling along like a slow moving tornado, driven by the winds. In other words. Birds that we first see low in the funnel, will continue to rise, apparently, in the same funnel, but will continue to move in the direction the funnel of air is moving, and at that rate.  We may first see them due east, but by the time they have reached the top, many hundreds of feet high, and 15 minutes later, they are miles south of the original location, but appear to be in the same funnel of rising air. This scenario, is different than the one we often see over the ridge, where even large numbers of hawks may move through, catching one thermal after another, rising on each, for a short distance and flying to the next.  They do rise on single thermals to great heights over the ridge, but in general, the thermal remains relatively stationary, in comparison to what we saw today.
I can only assume that the Winds and the heat from previous day, were causing an extreme rising of air and moisture that was unique for this time of year.  It was something that Bill Holt remarked upon as being odd for us on the watch. And we agree.

Jimmy wished that I also remark that we counted our first in each of the 4 species of Raptors that were not BW's today: Osprey, Sharp-shinned, Red-shouldered and Coopers Hawk.  Although we saw others of the Accipiters and the RS that played and hunted like locals, these 4 birds flew from when we first spotted them like they were on a mission to get further south.  They "acted" like migrating birds should.

One more note: Harold Birch's recommendation to never neglect scanning a kettle of Vultures for an opportunity to find other migrating Raptors, has really paid off lately. Due to the bulk of clouds and high percentage of cloud cover, the Vultures have led us to many of the hawks we have recorded these first few days.

We started our day needing 575 Broad-wings to reach our 50,000 BW Grand Total for BW's counted from this site. Only one short of a 50 BW day, our count down is now at 526 BW's to go. This will be a RECORD SETTING YEAR!!!   <(read more about it at this link.)

From Jimmy and Cynthia Wilkerson,
For the Soddy Daisy Hawk Watch Team
Happy Hawk Hunting &

KEEP LOOKING UP!

Even Amid the Clouds

We had a nice day at the Hawk Watch today-

13 Broad Wings
  2 Bald Eagles
  1 Northern Harrier

were countable migrants.  We had an additional Bald Eagle, 3 Coopers Hawks, 1 Sharp Shinned, several Red -Tailed, and Red-shouldered and an American Kestrel that were not.  But the day was active all day once it cleared a bit, and before the heavy rains arrived.

Our non-raptor count included quite a few Blue Jays, a nice close view of a Pileated Woodpecker, and no less than 10 Hummers attacking Ken and Sue's feeders at the house near the lookout.  Their deck was teaming with birds dive-bombing one another so fast, that we couldn't actually get a perfect count.  They have 3 feeders close to one another, but hanging on 3 levels, and every hummer was attacking another. I actually never saw even one land on a feeder.  So comical. And they were all there at once.

Some ask how we knew the one Bald Eagle was not the same as one adult we counted earlier. I explain that I can't always know, but sometimes we can.  The first Adult and one Immature, which we counted as migrants early in the day, came from way out and continued for as far as we could see them.  So we watched them carefully. The adult had full white head and tail, and the immature had neither. No brainer..they were different Eagles.  But the 3rd Eagle which was actually flying north, and was therefore uncountable, was also different enough to know.  3rd and 4th year young adults often have a pinkish hue to their white tails.  And a tinge of  a band on the white that looks sort of creamy in color.  Similar to some Red-tail immatures.  This bird had that characteristic, and was definitely different that the other two we had seen earlier.  It pays to watch for even the slightest characteristics sometimes on birds as obvious as Eagles, and others if possible.  For instance, a missing feather, an odd coloration, or a special lightness or darkness that seems obvious.  We actually get to know some of our "locals" this way.  But in this case it helped us not decrease our migration count by 1 eagle.

We are now 13 more BW's closer to our 50,000 goal!  Only need 575 more to reach it. We are on the countdown!!!!!

Keep looking up!


PS  The Florida Keys Hawk Watch reports thousands of Night Hawks, which aren't actually hawks, but kin to the Night Jars - Whip-poor-wills and Chuck-wills-widows.  Commonly known by some as "Bull Bats," which they also are not. Many city buildings put recordings on their roofs to discourage the nesting of Night Hawks on the gravel roofs. Not exactly sure if damage is done if they nest on roofs, but its sad that they can't be tolerated, because, like bats, they consume bugs drawn to the lights of the city.  They do an enormous service to keep the bugs under control. 

I also include this site, because I want to begin introducing other Hawk Watch spots to the blog.  You might visit one some day.Florida Keys Hawk Watch on facebook

Misjudged the Day, but Plenty to Do

Well, we misjudged the weather today, and thinking there would be thunder storms this afternoon, we decided not to go up for the 2 -3 hours in midday that we thought we would have.  We took the opportunity to get some things done, and now regret not going up anyway.  Which is what we plan to do tomorrow, rain or shine.  We will judge the weather from there, rather than miss hawks.

If anyone did go up this afternoon, please let us know your numbers, and sooooo sorry we missed you.  Barring an emergency we hope to see you again soon.

Keep looking up!

In case you haven't heard....
We are expecting a record setting year.  This will be the year that the 50,000th Broad-wing will be counted from our site!

Broadwings Dropping From Clouds

We were a little later than planned getting up to the watch today.  But the cloud cover and SW winds were pushing even the Vultures northward.  We arrived to find that Harold Birch had been there early to mow or weed-eat at the road and along the ridge, for which we GREATLY THANK HIM. We did all we could last night to prepare the place, but it was so overgrown that we couldn't do it all. He is such a blessing.

To the east of us, all along the river the sun was warming the valley for thermals, but over our ridge and west of us was just a steady wind pushing the clouds along, while the sun's rays tried to punch holes through the clouds throughout the morning. But there were no places where constant sun could warm the earth and provide singular thermals.  Although we saw Turkey Vultures,  Blacks, 2 Red-tailed and Red-shouldered Hawks, and 2 Sharp-shinned, there were no Broad-wings or other migrant raptors until the sun broke through after 2 pm.

We discussed that we didn't expect Broad-wings to confront the strong winds from the SW, but continued to look. I remembered how I thought about the sun warming the valley earlier in the day and noticed that the clouds were in long linear layers. I remembered how Debbie Shannon used to find afternoon, distant and high flying individual hawks zipping along skies like that in years past. So I began to concentrate on sorting out the rising Vultures, many of which were rising in kettles casually climbing hundreds of feet before peeling off North. 

And then I spotted it. That tiny bullet that dropped from nowhere out of the clouds.  We sometimes see this in the early afternoon.  Broad-wings seem to drop from nowhere above us sometimes, and we have come to realize that they are dropping from heights where they fly during midday.  This was the case with this little bullet.  But not long after I followed it streaking along, it flared its wings,  two, three, then four times, and I could tell it had hit a wall of that SW wind.  It looked like putting on breaks, but it was the wind doing his breaking, and this hawk was forced to come out of that stoop, and open its wings, or fall from the sky.  It flew into the first thermal it could find, and began that familiar upward circle.  It occasionally disappeared behind gray hazy clouds, but I patiently waited  for it to rise above them, and it paid off!  Suddenly there were 4 more, then another, and arriving to the bottom of the kettle 3 and 3.  There it was. Our first kettle of the season! 11 - every one peeled off the top and continued from the heights above the SW wind like a bullet on its journey. I followed them South and never saw them make a westward turn, but why would they abandon the only thermals forming.  

All told, we had:

 13 Broad-wings
 20 other species

 to record today.

Among the non-raptor species we counted today was a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher.  A real treat.

We are prepared to go up tomorrow morning, but predicted storms may relieve us in the afternoon.  But if it is densely clouded around 10 to 11, we will make a call on the day.  Storms are predicted for Friday as well, so for now, we think it's a no go.

Keep looking UP.

Remember, we are now thirteen birds closer to our 50,000 grand total goal. Check out the link.

Getting Started

This will be the first day Jimmy and I spend time at the Hawk watch. First Day is also about getting set up to watch.  After the rain we hope to see some early moving Broad-wings. Especially since we have seen small groups lately throughout the valley. 2s and 3s in the company of Accipiters and Red-Tails or Red-Shouldereds, mounting up to meet BW's, to rush them along out of their territory.  But we may see none except locals...but it's a good time to get to know them.

We went up last evening and cut grass and established "steps" on the hillside. There remains a lot of new growth off the hillside that begin to obscure our view.  It may in fact mean the end of our panoramic view in a year or two. But until then, we are determined to see migrating hawks while we can.

Hope to see you there this season!
Keep looking up.

REMEMBER: THIS IS OUR RECORD SETTING YEAR!