SEASON 2014 IS IN THE BOOKS

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Jimmy has checked and double checked the 2014 Stats, and the following is his report for the Fall Season Totals:

"Soddy Mountain Hawk Watch
Flat Top Mountain, Hamilton Co., TN

2014 season totals

BV      21
TV     215
MK*      1   (juvenile)
OS       6
BE      29   ( 17 ad/ 12 im)
NH       6
SS      61
CH      24
RS      12
BW    2874
RT      94
GE*      1   (juvenile)
AK       2
ML       1
PG       4

UB      (1)  (unidentified buteo)
     ______
      3352

15 species with 3352 individuals counted
181.25 hours
35 days coverage from Sept. 10 thru Nov. 28, 2014
On slow days we recorded 59 species of birds seen from the lookout proper.

A few raptor HIGHLIGHTS from the season:
1 Our first Broad-winged Hawk was seen on Sept. 10  Our last was seen on Oct. 5
2 This year we broke 50,000 BW's seen over the years.  This happened Sept. 18 at 9:49 when 29 distant specks flew over.
3 A juvenile Mississippi Kite flew to the southwest at 11:33...only the third bird of this species in our history.
4 A immature Golden Eagle flew by on Nov. 10.  (from Bill Haley's notes:) " flew directly over the lookout about 200 yards up-great looks"

A brief summary:
We had few cold fronts, even so they were not the traditional types where a front passed and then rain for two or three days to hold up the forward movement.  Our best days were early in the season: i.e 9/17 we recorded 436 BW; 9/18 we saw 1063; 9/19 we saw 275.  The next week when counts should have been high or higher, we counted 223 on 9/23; 161 on 9/24 and 191 on 9/25.  When the calendar approaches the mid twenties is when we normally see our largest kettles and our biggest number days.  Altogether these six days represented 2549 of our 2874 Broad-winged Hawks tallied for the 2014 season!
Jimmy Wilkerson
2014 compiler"

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As I wrap this up, it is a few days before Christmas. Looking back over this season, it seems uneventful in comparison to some years.  Although, we passed our landmark number of BW Hawks seen from our site this year, the overall numbers of Broad-wings seen, for as many days as we spent covering the prime days, was smaller than banner years.  Many sites saw great numbers, but the weather didn't co-operate for us to "see" the numbers passing us.  If, in fact, our speculations about those high flying birds just can't be seen on a crystal clear day with no clouds,  this year was no different than others regarding a healthy population of Broad-wings.  WE just didn't get to see them in great numbers. LOL

We could be disappointed.  But, Jimmy had personal goals for this season, and he met them.  Bill had personal goals for this season and he spent more hours fulfilling them.  Harold stuck out the duration of helping us keep the scheduled/publicized  days covered, supporting us while meeting the personal goal at home of building a barn!

The older I get, the more I know I cannot continue to be there for all those hours in the future.  Loving to see the hawks, no matter the species, continues to be a great joy for me.  I like days with variety, as much as I like days with great numbers.  And days with unique birds as well, even if we waited long hours to see it.  I love that we captured a Merlin, a Kite, a Golden Eagle, and Peregrine Falcons for the count.  It takes being there to see them fly by.  I am not sure there will be years and years more of dedication to the site, that rival this year.  I suppose our next Goal would be to just manage to make it to 25 years of data. 

We often approach each season with questions we want to answer for ourselves, and others.  For me, being there everyday for so many days all day long, rules out that just being there increases the numbers.  It doesn't.  Going on prime days does.  Yet we had a couple of the best hawk-eyes  on the watch join us on what was supposed to be 2 perfect days, and the birds didn't show.  Thank you Roi and Debbie Shannon for joining us a couple of days. For me, sharing those days with you made it seem like things were right in the world. LOL Have missed you.  And Bill Holt has become a regular during prime days.  Can never give enough credit for the joy it gives us to see him come over that hill.  It meant we could rest our eyes a bit, or at least not feel that we were missing something due to fatigue...because another set of eyes had come to the rescue.  All the times, just one more person helped us make an ID!

The numbers of visitors this year was remarkable!  I cannot say enough how much we enjoyed having hawk lovers come by in support.  We always hope that some one enjoyed learning just a bit more about Identifying hawks. I certainly hope there some of you met personal goals this year. I know that for some, first sightings, or just seeing a kettle is a goal you came with and left satisfied. Congrats on being there to meet that goal.

  And the interaction with Alix Parks and Sherry Teas, as they shared their up close and personal looks at injured/release birds was valuable in ways I never dreamed.  I have learned to ID Hawks at a distance, and remain a learner at IDing them on a limb. LOL  I shrink from calling myself a Hawk specialist for that reason above all others!

Each year I realize that I continue to be a learner, and for me that is a great part of Hawk-watching.  Each year I grow, and relearn, and learn something new.  One of my personal goals this year was to share that with our readers.  And to make good use of my camera.  So was it a successful year?
Yes!  The weather and the high flying hawks didn't co-operate some days to our heart's desire.  But we did bring our best efforts to our fellow hawk watchers and friends.  And we got a really good, solid set of data!
Cynthia....


MAY ALL OF YOUR HOLIDAYS BE SAFE AND HAPPY!!!!

Counts are over, but it's never too late to

Keep Looking Up!!

Bill says Stick a Fork In It!

"Stick a fork in it….the fall 2014 hawkwatching season is DONE!

I wish I could have put in more days of coverage at the Soddy Mountain lookout in Oct. and Nov., after the Broad-winged Hawk (Sept.) watchers retired for the season.  Unfortunately the weather conspired against me several times when I had a chance to be up there. I missed the biggest part of the accipiter migration, (35 SS and 7 Coopers is pretty pitiful compared to earlier years), and only caught a couple of decent days of the Red-tail migration. However, I’m thankful for getting to spend as much time on the lookout as I did this year. Maybe I’ll do better in 2015!

A friend in Atlanta reported many hundreds of vultures flying south over his house 2-3 days prior to my biggest count on Oct. 23. I would have loved to have been on the lookout to see that! The Turkey Vulture kettle of 123 I saw on Oct. 23 was impressive.

Another highlight was the immature Golden Eagle on Nov. 10. It flew right over the lookout about 200 yards up. (I saw one last year on Nov. 14.)

I got up there twice in this past week, and here are my totals:

 11/25/14: 2.0 hr., RT – 2, Sandhill Cranes – 92

11/28/14: 4.0 hr., BV – 9, TV – 4, BE – 4 (1 ad., 1 3^rd yr, 2 imm.), RT – 3

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I had planned to stay all day on 11/28, but realized that there were very few birds moving south – everything pretty much came to a standstill after noon -  and I got tired of scanning an empty sky and decided it would be my last day on the lookout this year.

 
(His Combined Stats for OCT and NOV 2015)

Following are my totals - just in case I forgot to report a day:

10/4/14: 4.0 hr., SS – 7, CH – 2, BW – 14

10/5/14: 4.0 hr., NH – 2, SS – 4, BW – 2, RT – 1 

10/12/14: 2.0 hr., SS – 1 

10/22/14: 1.5 hr., SS – 2, CH – 1, RS – 1, RT – 1 

10/23/14: 5.25 hr., TV 161, SS -  1, CH – 1, BE – 1, PG – 1, RT – 2 

10/24/14: 6.0 hr., TV – 22, SS – 1, CH – 1, BE – 1, PG – 1, RT – 2

10/25/14: 5.0 hr., SS – 7

11/6/14: 1.5 hr., CH – 1

11/10/14: 7.0 hr., TV – 28, SS – 5, BE – 5, GE – 1, RS – 1, RT – 49

11/11/14: 7.0 hr., NH – 2, SS – 6, CH – 1, RS – 1 RT – 23

11/12/14: 1.25 hr.

11/14/14: 4.5 hr., SS – 1, BE – 3, RT – 3

11/22/14: 3.0 hr., BV – 12, RS – 2, RT – 3

11/25/14: 2.0 hr., RT – 2

11/28/14: 4.0 hr., BV -9, TV – 4, BE – 4, RT – 3

Totals, Oct.-Nov. 2014:

BV –       21

TV –     215

NH –         4

BE –       14

GE -         1

SS –       35

CH –         7

PG -         1

BW –      16

RS –         5

RT -         89

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Total -    408

Total hrs. 58 (Oct. and Nov.)

Total hawkwatchers (Oct. and Nov.) – 1

Bill Haley"

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Sorry it didn't work out that we could get back up any during the last 2 months, but thankful for every hour Bill felt willing to tackle.  Proud to add 408 more raptors to the counts this year!

 

Jimmy will tackle the YTD on all the reports and give us grand totals soon. We will post the chart as soon as he does.

 

And remember,

it's never too late to

Keep Looking UP!!!

 

 

 

PS.

Jimmy and I had Red-shouldered Hawks in 2 places today, calling over and over.  Guess those are the birds which will have nests before spring. Nesting reports will be appreciated.  Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Consolidation of Bill's Watch Reports for Late Season

In Bill's last e-mail he gave Jimmy and Harold a consolidated update to be sure they were both up to date, so I am doing the same for all of you.  Making it easy to see the results of possible raptor reports after the "Broad-wing drive."  Bill reports he might have one more day, but here's the consolidated report:

11/6/14: 1.5 hrs. (Arrive 12:30, left 2:00). Wind WSW 10-20, clouds 50%, visib. 50K, temp. 66, baro. 30.03, hum. 52%. (winds very strong from wrong direction.) 

            - Cooper’s Hawk (1)

 11/10/14: 7.0 hrs. (Arrive 9:00, left 4:00.) Wind SE to ESE 2-8, thin cirrus clouds, 0-10%, visib. 5K in morning to 50K in afternoon, temp 40-68. Baro. 30.10, gradually falling to 29.99 during day. Hum. 93% to 34%. Sometimes 2-3 RT’s coming through at the same time. Action was good all day. I’d wait until they sailed south, then turn around and start scanning for the next ones.

-          Turkey Vulture – 28 (3 different groups – largest 14)

-          Bald Eagle – 5 (all adult – the last going by at eye level, very close – nice!)

-          Golden Eagle (immature) – flew directly over the lookout about 200 yards up – great looks!

-          Sharp-shinned Hawk – 5

-          Red-shouldered Hawk – 1

-          Red-tailed Hawk 49

 

11/11/14: 7.0 hrs. (Arrive 9:00, left 4:00) Wind S 5-10 in morning, less in afternoon, but still S. Visib. 35K, temp. 50-71. Baro. 30.07 gradually falling to 29.94. Hum. 83%-47%. Action slower than yesterday, but still not bad!

 

-          Northern Harrier – 2 (first one was an adult male “gray ghost” – beautiful, 2^nd was a female.)

-          Sharp-shinned Hawk – 6

-          Cooper’s Hawk – 1

-          Red-shouldered Hawk – 1

-          Red-tailed Hawk – 23

 

11/12/14: 1.25 hr. (Arrive 12:30, left 1:45). Wind N 5-12, clouds 100%, visib. 20K, temp. 49, hum. 71%, baro. 30.17. COLD and no sign of any clearing….no hawks, but at least it counts toward hours of effort.

 

11/14/14: 4.5 hrs. (Arrive 9:30, left 2:00). Wind N 10-15. Clouds 5%-10%, visib. 40K. Temp. 28 (wind chill 16) – 38 (wind chill 30). Baro. 30.33 – 30.31.Hum. 55%-39%. Brutal cold with wind right in my face. I was hoping for good numbers coming south, but it seems the hawks knew they’d better leave a couple of days before the super cold front came through. A slow day overall.

-          Bald Eagle – 3 (2 seen at same time, 3^rd year birds - liberal white speckling all over, heads beginning to turn white – both came in very close. Great looks!)

-          Sharp-shinned Hawk – 1

-          Red-tailed Hawk – 3

 

-          Sandhill Crane – 45 (first of the year.)

 

11/22/14: 3 hrs. (Arrive 9:30, left 12:30). Wind SSE 1-3, increasing to 2-8, clouds 30-35%, visib. 40K, temp. 35-55, baro. 30.46-30.39., hum. 82% - 39%. Nice day, but very slow. 

-          Black Vulture (12) all in one kettle, watched from when they were specks until they moved on south. Local BV’s visible at same time, so I counted the kettle.

-          Red-shouldered Hawk – 2

-          Red-tailed Hawk – 1 

-          Sandhill Cranes – 69 (All going west, so probably from Hiwassee. 2 passed between lookout and north ridge, below treeline – lowest I’ve ever seen. 

-          Double-crested Cormorant – 16 

-          Gulls (Ring-Billed?) – 3

At least I’ve been able to add a few late season hours. Monday the 10^th was a wonderful day to be a late season hawkwatcher!

 

Bill (Crazy late season specialist)

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 LOL

Keep Looking UP!!!!

 

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all!

Jimmy and Cynthia