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!