Thousands of Hawks Fly Through Texas To Panama

Panama reported over 28,000 hawks yesterday, and Corpus Christi, TX has reported 489946 total raptors for the month, Cape May had 711 Sharp-Shins most of which will probably run down the coast.

What do these numbers indicate?  Most Broad-wings are near Panama or further south. Some people in Texas counted nearly a half million raptors this month, and there are still plenty of Sharp-shinned Hawks heading South. 

People only miss these spectacles of nature if they don't -

KEEP LOOKING UP!!!

Jimmy and Cynthia Wilkerson

Rockfish Gap Hawkwatch in VA

Well, did you get out your Atlas or Google  Rockfish Gap, VA?  It is just west of Charlottesville, and up HWY81 from Roanoke, VA, due NE along a similar line we have already been zigzag drawing. It sits on Hwy64, W of where *SR 250 intersects and E of where SR 350 intersects.  *(state roads)

These are the Quick Facts given on the Google maps page, referenced to Wikipedia:

"Quick facts

Rockfish Gap is a wind gap located in the Blue Ridge Mountains between Charlottesville and Waynesboro, Virginia, United States, through Afton Mountain, which is frequently used to refer to the gap.

Wikipedia

• Elevation:
  • 1,903'
• Range:
  • Blue Ridge Mountains"

Comparing that to us, at 1400 feet, they are about 500' higher, but we are also located on a Gap. 

The map so far has taken us up 59 to 75 to 81, and if you look closely that is up the mountain range, and almost at a perfect NE or slightly E or N of that line all the way. 

Looking at bigger cities along the way,  the Hawkwatch sites are near: Birmingham, Chattanooga, Roanoke, and Charlottesville. - IN case the map, on which you are making dots, doesn't show the smaller towns or rural sites where the watches actually are. If you haven't already, find a Eastern US map and print one large enough to see the large cities, and start marking out the hawk sites. 

If you already see where we are going with this, and have looked at www.Hawkcount.org  then you might see if you can find some watches along our flyway too.  Who knows you might discover one we have not noticed, or a new one as the interest and expertise in counting hawks grows.
 

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

 Although the skies have been wonderful, and the fronts probably opened up to some fabulous opportunities to see migrants, no one from our group had been able to make it up.  So we apologize for no numbers, even though there may have been some good flight days.

We are proud to see that hawks are flying through in great numbers still, all along the flight paths.  I am not sure if we will map out the Blue Ridge sites, or get to the coastal sites, but as we begin to see the paths, maybe you or someone you know may find a ridge or field where you can spend a little time watching them fly through, and maybe just begin a little notebook of your own. 

Because we always want you to -

KEEP LOOKING UP!!!!

Jimmy and Cynthia Wilkerson

Count Day Scheduled 10/15/15

Bill is scheduling dates to be on the lookout. Here's his E-mail which designates Oct 15/ Thursday, as a definite, if you would like to join him:

 "Jimmy and Harold,
At our United Way get-together yesterday, I won a free vacation day. Probably will wait until early November to cash it in, but I’ve already marked a couple of possible days on my calendar that I don’t currently have programs scheduled. Will keep a close eye on the weather reports and hopefully one of those days will be a good one to do some hawkwatching.

This weekend ... I sure wish I could be up there when the front moves through and there is some clearing! Weather channel was saying winds will be from the north at 10-15 MPH after the front passes. That should blow some accipiters and other hawks south.

I’m definitely planning on being up there next Thursday, Oct. 15, all day if possible, so let folks know if you talk to anyone who might want to come up. (Can't go Friday) I’ll be back on the lookout all day on Saturday and probably Sunday afternoon after church, weather permitting. (It’ll kill me if Friday is the best day of the bunch for hawkwatching!!!!)

I’ll send reports as I’m able to get up there. There will be more highlights to come in 2015!
Bill Haley"

_____________________________________________

And here is our Hawkwatch site of the day. Rockfish Gap, Va. (<click here for the link)  I won't be able to post one each day, but you now have 4 dots for a map. I'll let you do a little research to find out if they are North of Harvey's Knob or South of it.  Check them out on Hawkcount.org:

They had:
4 Osprey
8 Bald Eagles
1 Northern Harrier
77 Sharp-shins
31 Coopers
1 Red-Shouldered
2 Broadies
1 Red-tail
2 Golden Eagles
18 Kestrels
6 Merlins
1 un ID
for a total of 152 Raptors.

_________________________________________

For those who haven't discovered it yet, here's out Facebook link:


https://www.facebook.com/Soddy-Mountain-Hawk-Watch-1608121316117914/timeline/


Maybe you can drop by and help Bill -

KEEP LOOKING UP!!!

Jimmy and Cynthia Wilkerson

PS - An edit to report the record numbers of Peregrine Falcons seen in Florida.  Thanks, Jim Eager for the report!!

 "Many of you know about the legendary Peregrine Falcon counts at the Florida Keys Hawkwatch. (<click here and on the side bar for daily updates) They hold the single day and seasonal world records. 638 counted on Oct. 11, 2008, 651 on Oct. 10, 2012 and 4,219 for the 2014 season. Well my fellow hawk watchers the record was obliterated yesterday Oct. 10, 2015. They counted 1,506 Peregrine Falcons. Big congratulations to Rafael Galvez, Ted Keyel and the rest of the Florida Keys Hawkwatch volunteers. I was a counter there for nearly 3 seasons so it is near and dear to my heart. Rafael used to call me militant when I referred to the peregrines. Indeed I am"

Harvey's Knob Hates the Stink Bugs

One of the things I don't do well is tell the stories of what goes on between counting the hawks.  But at Harvey's Knob, they reported a funny anecdote about the Stink Bugs they were dealing with.  They are begging for Praying Mantis...and offering a free T-shirt. LOL

We had our days with the stink bugs too.  They crawled into everything. But what I hated was the little black crawlies  that were akin to the size of "no see ums."  They got behind my glasses and into my eyes more than once.  Does anyone know what is their preditor?  I will gladly give a T-shirt for that as well. But I will have to have one made. LOL

Where, exactly is Harvey's Knob?  - Roanoke, Va.-  Yesterday they had 12 Sharp-shins, 3 Red-tails, and 2 American Kestrels.  On September 20th they had 2867 BW's.  And on the 18th, 1499.  Like us they've had their days with only a few over 100, or 300 or 500.  They sit there like we do hoping for the 2800 days.  Theirs often show a few days before ours.  Along with a few other sites North of us, we use their totals to determine if we should be expecting hawks in numbers at our site.  We never go or don't go, based on what they see north of us, but it doesn 't hurt to know about how far south Broad-wings are being seen.  Sometimes it lights a little fire under us.

If you are keeping up with us this month, you might want to round up a map and begin marking these sites with a little red dot or something.  As we share them with you, there will be a pattern emerging on the map.  Play along, and see what happens.

In the mean time>

Keep Looking UP!!!

Jimmy and Cynthia Wilkerson

(click on the map to see it clearly)  Note how you can draw a line from one corner of the map at Roanoke through Soddy Daisy(Chattanooga) down to Birmingham.   In case you are wondering, this is a good indication why we expect hawks to run in a SWesterly direction.  ???



At the extreme left lower point on this map is Birmingham...near where Jackie and Carrol
 count hawks at Mill Creek Rd Hawk Watch.  At a point NE along the mountain ridge, is
 Chattanooga/Soddy Daisy, where we watch hawks migrate through.  In the extreme Right upper
 corner of this map is Roanoke, VA, where Harvey's Knob is located.  Can you already see
 hawk watching dotted along the Mountain Ridges?  I will work on getting a map
 with marks on it as we add more hawk watches between us and Roanoke.

Sharpie's Breakfast Break

Bill Haley sent today's Report -

 

"Jimmy;

 

I spent from 8:30 to 11:00 on the lookout this morning, 10/9/15. Figured maybe some hawks would be trying to get through before the front and the predicted rain arrived. I began with 40% cloud cover. Clouds had increased to 60% by 10:00 and with a large black bank of clouds approaching from the NW, cloud cover had reached 85% when I left at 11:00.

 

First hawk of the day was a Sharp-shin that flew along the top of the north ridge at 9:15. A little to the left of the dip it did a maneuver and caught a small bird, landing in the top of a pine to eat its meal. I had it in sight there until around 9:50. I have to wonder if it became my 9:52 bird, because I looked for it after that bird flew on south and it wasn’t there anymore.

 

8:30: wind calm, visib. 35K, clouds 40%, temp. 65 F, humidity 87%, baro. 30.12 and rising

9:00: wind SSW 1-2, visib. 30K, clouds 45%, temp. 67 F, hum. 84%, baro. 30.14 and rising

10:00 wind SE 1-5, visib. 40K, clouds 60%, temp. 68 F, hum. 87%, baro. 30.15 and rising

11:00 wind SE 2-8, clouds 85%, no other weather readings taken

 

Sharp-shinned Hawk: (1) 9:23, (1) 9:52, (1) 9:59, (1) 10:27, (1) 10:42, (1) 10:47   - Total  6 SS.

 

Monarch butterfly 4

Blue Jay 6

N. Flicker 2

 

There were a lot of Chimney Swifts - between 25 and 30 over the north ridge on a couple of occasions. Guess they will be gone south in a couple of weeks.

 

Got some great looks at a male Pine Warbler and a Palm Warbler playing in some of the small pine trees around the lookout.

 

Bill Haley"

 

Bill keeps up with all the birds he sees or hears.  Which most birders will do.  I do most of my birding by ear,  while Hawking. In other words, I call off to Jimmy, who is our recorder, what I hear.  I seldom change the focus on my binocs to look at birds, because it means you have to refocus on the hawk range. If you are seeing birds way out at a certain focus, it may be hard to find that focal length again, thus you miss hawks.  But we have learned to focus on a specific point out beyond the ridge, sometimes as far out as the furthest cell tower, and we do it often during the day.  It's important to have an extreme distance into focus, especially in blue skies.  It is one of the things we explain to visitors when they come.  A part of our mini-education we try to give everyone. LOL

 

A second note today, is that Jimmy contacted a hawk watch in Alabama, Millcreek Hawk Watch.  Here is an excerpt from the email that tells us a little about them. Hope to stay in contact with them for years to come.  Might visit them next year.

 

Jimmy sent them this note:

 

"Sent: Mon, 5 Oct 2015 02:23:53 +0000 (UTC)
Subject: Mill Creek Rd Hawk Watch

Hi Jackie & Carrol;

It was so nice to find your hawk watch site on hawkcount.org. I am Jimmy
Wilkerson. My wife and 3 or 4 friends have been counting hawks for going
on 23 years at Soddy Mountain Hawk Watch near Chattanooga, TN. We thought
we were the most southern hawk watch in the east until I found your site.
We're glad your there!!! And such impressive numbers you have this season.

We used to report to HMANA back a few years ago when we had to make daily
paper records and mail them in at the end of ever season. The new site seems
so much more easier. I'm thinking about joining hawkcount.org so we can have
a place to report out numbers to. It seems a waste of out time and records
not to do so.

Thanks for hearing me out! Hawk watching is such a specialized form of bird
watching. There aren't many of us out there who have the time to count these
hawks. Thanks for your commitment.

Jimmy"

 

 

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


They responded:

"Thank you for contacting us. A pleasure to hear from other hawk lovers like us. We have been watching for about 12 years now but not reporting that long. We used to go to Blue Ridge Parkway in September to sit and watch for a few days each year. then one year we could not make it up in Sept and that is the year things changed for us. We realized we were seeing lots and lots of hawks passing right over our house and hayfield. The next year we took a chance at watching at home again and counted several thousand in a two week period. And that was the end of the September trek to the BRP.  We feel so blessed to be in their flight path and look forward to this each year. we now call it our stay-cation. Everything is put on the idle and we watch the sky all day. We LOVE this time of year.

It is so nice to meet fellow hawkers. We have been in Chattanooga (last yr) at this watch time and watched hawks and 2 eagles from our sidewalk downtown. Folks thought we were crazy for being so excited about seeing some hawks. That is because they have never seen a kettle of the swirling magnificent birds. We have wondered why no-one in your area was reporting and wondering how the birds track from the Appalachian range down to us. We are in the foothills a bit nnw of Birmingham."

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

We have put them onto our Blog and Facebook pages. 

Isn't it wonderful that they can watch from a hayfield.  We have always known that some of the kettles of BWs, which we see from the watch, are forming into rising thermals over either the road way, or over the fields and farmlands near us.  It's where the sun warms air most quickly.  Check out their counts on Hawkcount.org,  Mill Creek Rd Hawk Watch.  Not all watches will have reports every day. 

Thank you, Bill for your report today, and thanks to fellow hawk-watchers, Jackie and Carrol, in Alabama.  Always nice to get to know our hawk watching friends.

 

I may not get to report daily for about a week, sooooo, don't give up on us. LOL

 

KEEP LOOKING UP!!!!

 

Jimmy and Cynthia Wilkerson

 

 

 

 

 

 

Where Do the Broad-wings Go?

HawkCount.org  gives us evidence of where the Raptors are arriving right now. We know thousands have passed along the Appalachian Mtn. Range, flowing across Alabama and Mississippi, toward Texas.  We have discussed the massive numbers that stream through Corpus Christi, TX for instance from all areas of the US, that are heading even further South.  So, today I am taking a quick look at two sites further south. And I am asking how in the world they even count all these birds? I have been at Corpus Christi and watched how they count.  I wish one day to at least see some pics of how they do it at some of the places I am about to show you.  (Use your browser's back button to return to the blog.)


Veracruz River of Raptors Chichicaxtle, MX -  964481 Raptors  of which were 721523. BWs.
Check the above link to discover what was occurring on Oct, 6, 2015 in Mexico.  From here these migrants continue into Panama, and some all the way to Argentina, South America.  Such as Swainson's Hawks.

Now consider this one:
Cerro AncónPanama City, Panama, Panama  - 5389 Raptors of which were 5505 BW's. Those huge numbers are only just now beginning to funnel into the mid-Americas.

Through out October, Jimmy and I want to familiarize our readers with some of the other watch sites.  When we speak of Sandhill, and Whooping Cranes, we often explain to visitors that there are migration routes that specific birds follow.  Anything East of the Mississippi, is in general, the EASTERN FLYWAY.  For the Raptors, that flyway is divided into two general categories.  Roughly, the raptors that fly down the Mountains, and those that fly down the coastline.  Now, that doesn't say that no birds fly or kettle elsewhere.  Not at all.  It just appears that watches which have evolved to view the raptor flights, find their best counts on mountain ridges, or along the coast-line in the East. And as it so happens-- we are in a line with one another. Whether along coastal sites, or running down the  mountains sites, there is an interesting line that can be drawn between the sites, moving south.   

Eventually, we will help draw you a map of the path it seems that the Mountain migrants take.  Or at the very least, the route along which watchers count and record what they see during Hawk migration.  And we also want to introduce you to the more southern watch in Alabama, that falls exactly in line with all the rest of us...the mountain watchers, but sits in a flat-land hay-field and views thousands in a few days.  But all that later.

Yesterday was Jimmy's last day up, but Bill plans to go up as he can.  I am sure he would love company, but his schedule means he can go only as he can slip it in.  Maybe without plans. 

So this is the last long day, multi-watcher count that we expect to have:

10/6/15   Tuesday

4 Broad-wings
15 Sharp-shinned
4 Cooper's Hawks
1 Peregrine Falcon
1 Osprey
1 American Kestrel
1 Adult Bald Eagle
1 Merlin

*Jimmy wanted me to also note that they had a 3 Falcon day!!__________________________________

We will post what anyone of the team goes up to see, through November at least.

Today I looked up and what did I see crossing a cloud?  You guessed it - A regal hawk... no binocs, so I couldn't ID.  After all I didn't need to count it.  But alas, I had to smile.  All you need to do is occasionally -

KEEP LOOKING UP!!!

Jimmy and Cynthia Wilkerson

Red-tailed Tales

Our dear friends and hawk watchers, Marge and Pete Krampe, came up early in the season, and shared with us a marvelous tale.  Pete was Golfing at an Ohio course, when he hit his ball into some tall trees on a hill along the fairway.  A little annoyed with himself for having to go up into the trees to find his ball, he was not so aware of his surroundings. As he approached the trees, he was suddenly hit very hard in the back by something, and except for the sharp pain, would have feared it to have been a limb falling from the tree.  It almost knocked him down it hit so hard. As he raised his head, catching his balance, he followed the shadow of something large to see an adult Red-tailed Hawk flying away.  It became immediately clear to him, that the pain he was still feeling was where the talons of the bird had done some damage to his back. Reasoning why, he finally decided there must have been a nest near to where his ball had landed.

I asked Pete could I share his adventure, and he was willing.  He was also willing that I tell you that a dive-bombing Red-tail could do some damage.  His back had long streaks of bleeding scratches and several deeper puncture wounds, Marge told us. She also said when she held up his shirt later, she could see the holes the claws had made. Pete sought help, allowing Marge to call several local emergency care clinics, who denied to help him, saying that he must go to a doctor. They were unprepared.  So he just went in and told them he had fallen on some nails.  To which he was given an updated Tetanus Shot, and had the wounds cleaned. LOL Emergency room averted.

What Pete had encountered was territorial behavior.  We have seen a lot of that among Red-tailed Hawks and other's this year. More than other years, I have seen Red-tails hit another bird, very hard. One day as Turkey Vultures were lifting onto the morning thermals just north of us, over Cell#1,  a Red-tail Hawk appeared from the mists high above, dropping like a bullet. It hit the Vulture so hard that it appeared to knocked it out. I saw this huge bird fall like a leaf, swirling round with little wind resistance until it almost reached the ground.  Just above tree-top level, the Vulture caught its wits, and spread its wings, pulling itself like an aerial show plane from the diving drop, wobbling out onto the rising winds once again. An aggressive hawk is nothing to mess with.

More than once we have seen 2 or 3 RTs rise up into thermals only to begin dropping on one another, looking like children playing tag.  They are a fascinating display, when we have a few moments to watch. And sometimes these displays look less like aggression than like practice for mating, or parents training young.  Not always easy to tell the difference, except that the fierce aggression is missing in the latter two.  So if you aren't into watching hawks for the purpose of seeing them migrate, take opportunities to look up and study their behavior.  You will be rewarded by their grace and prowess in the air. These kinds of activities, also help us rule out staying on these birds when at great distances, and it is too soon to know if they are Broadies.  The aggressive play and "kiting" tell us while they are just specks that we are viewing Red-tails, NOT on migration.

During this season, we witnessed several remarkable feats of territorial birds.  One day, Harold and I watched 5 Hawks in a semi-kettle formation, as they were pushed in from the East on hard East winds.  They were interacting in such a way, diving on one another, that we first thought they might be distant Red-tails - until as they came closer and maintained the semi-kettle behavior, we watched to see if they were Broad-wings.  Never having seen Broad -wings continue to act this way for a long distance - they always get along so well in a kettle - we began to consider what else they might be. The usual ways of identifying them were sort of out the window, because their behavior disguised the ability to see their details. 

As they neared us, out over the valley,  we began to doubt they were Broad-wings too.  And after watching them for a very long time, Harold finally felt certain that what we were seeing was a kettle of Sharp-shinned Hawks, having to flair their tails to continue the dive-bombing behavior.  They soared round like Broadies for a bit, occasionally, but only long enough to attain the height they needed to come crashing down onto birds below.  It seemed at first like aggression, and later as if siblings at play. Over and over they did this, never ceasing, sometime splitting into two sets, of 3 and 2, but not always the same set. Sometimes they got pretty high, and then lost all that lift diving on one another, just to rise again on the next thermal. 

Harold said he had often viewed Sharpies doing this, but usually only one to 3 at a time. Never 5, and never for so long.  They were exhausting so much energy, we wondered if they could possibly be migrants.  We had watched them for so long, that we worried we were missing valuable time in other areas of the sky, and after all that, we just dropped them, and never saw if they actually moved SW.  But since, they weren't in the "get out of here" mode, it probably was just several locals, spending the day getting exercise and honing their territorial skills.  

I, too had seen this behavior, and especially in local Raptors, which come up to meet migrators and hurry them through their territory.  We have sometimes reduced our counts as the aggressive locals leave migrators and return to the ground.  In fact, if we see Sharpies and Coopers amidst a kettle of BW's, we generally don't count them, unless they are flying through the kettle at break neck speed and disappear into the W/SW/S somewhere.  Well, not until we can see them going on.  These other birds that are not as inclined to kettle in groups, will sometimes catch the lift where a kettle of BW's is taking great advantage.  But, non-BWs often leave the kettle early and head out long before the BWs have achieved their desired height.  We sometimes have to leave a kettle of BWs and chase the singles to ID them and come back to the kettle when it "streams of the top."

When I do discussions like this, it generally is about what we observe. I don't wish to set up the reader for expectations.  Sometimes these are single events that intrigue us.  Not general, across the board education on what we expect to see.  But aggressive behavior, and a lack of interest in kettling among most other species*, are dependable traits, except with Vultures.  Migrating Vultures will sometimes resemble the Broad-wing groups.  For those who have difficulty seeing the specks of BWs we have to count in early fall, you might enjoy watching the kettles of Vultures in November. Just be aware there may be cold and winds to brave.  I have seen as many as 800 vultures sit down in the evenings during migration. *(some Western species excluded)

Jimmy has gone up today for what he expects to be his last day.  Others will continue to catch hours when possible for October and November.  Jimmy and I might even squeeze in one or two more days.  But we have a lot of catching up to do regarding  cleaning and resurfacing my greenhouse, and getting cuttings started for spring. I also have to winterize my plants, and get the mulch paths as dense as possible, or else there will be mud all winter.  We also have two gardens to prepare and get potted trees, already purchased, into the ground. What's more, Jimmy has pressure washed the deck we repaired twice for preparing it for staining.  And of course, all of this is time sensitive.  I hope to beat the first freeze.  So forgive us for deserting the "cause" of seeing just how many hawks cross through Soddy Daisy skies.  We will continue to report until Season's end.  So keep checking back.

It remains that there are lots of reasons still to:

KEEP LOOKING UP!!!!!

C

First Vultures Counted

Jimmy, Bill and Harold had a long slow day under all blue skies. But it was not fruitless.  They Squeezed out a few Raptors between 10:00 and 4:00.  The predicted clouds never showed over he lookout, and it got really warm for a fall day -mid 80's. It was so clear they determined they could see 100 miles - about 160 K.  Harold spent most of the day with Jimmy, and Bill was able to join them midday, when we have always expected the birds are flying high in blue skies, and not visible.  So, what they saw is pretty remarkable.

10/05/15 - Monday

8 Broad-wings
5 Sharp-shinned
2 Coopers Hawks
1 Red-tailed
4 Black Vultures
5 Turkey Vultures

The note of the day, may be obvious. They have begun to count Vultures.  Remember, migrants must have a definite migration attitude.  Come from a general Northerly direction and make a dedicated directional move to the SW or S and keep going.  Generally they will be grouped, somewhat like BWs. Most often, non-migrants turn within moment and show up going North.  Therefore, you also wont' see them again in just a bit. We have been watching them gather for days. It has been obvious they are getting ready to leave.

Jimmy's already determined that if it is all blue skies tomorrow, he won't stay long alone.  The weather indicates an area of rain that makes a large arc, which cuts off the route to the north the hawks would have to fly through.  A cold front approaching, at least this year, has pushed the existing birds through ahead of it, but there probably wont' be birds making their way down from areas where the rain sets in.  So unless there are a lot  of hawks sitting between the rain and the watch...not likely to see much in the afternoon anyway.  We've been surprised before...Just how far out they are, and how close the rain gets will tell the tale.

Best Peregrine Falcon Day EVER!!

Accipiter Season Is Underway

Sunday, 10/4/2015
Jimmy's report to TN-bird -

"SMHW
Hamilton Co. near Soddy Daisy, TN

After 3 days of steady rain, I was anxious to get back up on the lookout.  As I arrived at 10 AM I wasn't too sure that I hadn't made a mistake.  It was 66 degrees with the wind blowing  in gusts to 18 MPH and 85% cloud cover.  However the skies below were washed clean and it  was possible to see Kingston team Plant without the aid of binoculars, 60 miles away.

 My first bird was a "local" Red-tail with an almost completely full crop.  I thought of my own  breakfast of gravy and biscuit and began to wonder if the hawk enjoyed his meal as much as I  had.  It wasn't hard to see that it was just as full as I was!  At 11:13 (2) Double-Crested  Cormorants flew high up from the NW to ESE.  Even though these birds are not countable raptors, the count day had begun.  Bill and I ended the day with a Red-shouldered Hawk perched on a thick black bottom wire in the gap between the house and the pole, facing away from us.  In just a minute, the first hawk had another Red-shouldered fly by and draw him away from his perch.  This was an unusual sight for us, in that, except for a local American Kestrel a few years ago, no  other raptor  has perched on an electric wire for us. 

Todays totals:

 3 Osprey
 6 Bald Eagles  (3 Ad/3 Im)
34 Sharp-shinned Hawks
 5 Cooper's Hawks
60 Broad-winged Hawks  (most probably our best October BW single day count)
 1 American Kestrel
*7 Peregrine Falcons  (our highest single days count ever)--were they blown in from the east?
_______________________________

Year to date totals:
  15 Osprey
  20 Bald Eagles    (14 Ad/6 Im)
  13 Northern Harrier
  71 Sharp-shinned Hawks
  23 Cooper's Hawk  
   1 Red-shouldered Hawk
8123 Broad-winged Hawks
   2 Red-tailed Hawks
   9 American Kestrel
   1 Merlin
 *15 Peregrine Falcons   (highest year count)
   1 Unknown Buteo
   2 Unknown Raptors

Recently I received an email from Shane Williams, his brother, in Lafollette, saw ~150 Broad-
winged Hawks today in four groups between 5:30 and 6:20.  This still gives me hope and encouragement for tomorrow.  Quite possible Broad-wing season isn't over just yet!

A big thank you to Lora & Craig McBride who came up for 3 hours this afternoon to help Bill Haley
and myself count the hawks.

Jimmy Wilkerson
Hixson, Hamilton Co., TN"


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