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.
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