SITE DESCRIPTION

SITE DESCRIPTION:
"The Soddy Mountain hawk lookout is located in southeast Tennessee on the eastern face of Walden's Ridge (the Cumberland Escarpment) in Hamilton County, a short distance north of the town of Soddy-Daisy, TN. It lies at the eastern terminus of Jones Gap Road atop a bluff overloooking Hwy. 111 and the beautiful Tennessee River Valley to the east. The hawk lookout location is state-owned land, and there are currently no restroom or eating facilities nearby. Hawk watchers are advised to bring their own folding lawn chair, sunscreen, a hat, and drinking water, as well as binoculars and a field guide. Caution should be used at all times, especially if children are present, as there is no fence to prevent a fall off the nearby 75 foot bluff. The hawk lookout proper is level ground." *

No Shelter is available, and parking is on a level below the lookout grounds. The climb to the watch site is up a steep bank about 8' high. Other helpful tools might include an umbrella or spotting scope, although on a good day, you might not find time to use either.*

Courtesy of William G. (Bill) Haley, compiler and author of the brochure, Soddy Mountain Hawk Lookout, produced for TOS.

Red-tailed Hawk

Red-tailed Hawk
Falconer Mr. Johnson's Red-tail

Sunday, October 16, 2016

Saturday Oct 15 - After A Weak Front

Another view of FRED
 
Saturday, October 15:

A VERY weak front moved through overnight and this morning. Arrived at 10:00 to 100% cloud cover. Temperature was already 69 F. (So much for the predicted COLD FRONT!) Barometric pressure was high at 30. 32, so at least that was consistent with a high pressure area. Wind was W @ 2-8 MPH. At 11.00 I began seeing some breaks in the cloud cover, and the clouds slowly dissipated over the next several hours, with only 10% at 3:00. Temperature was actually higher today than yesterday at 80 F.
 
Jim Rowell


I want to mention two really special sightings:

1). At 12:20 an adult male Northern Harrier "Gray Ghost" came past. Beautiful bird and my first male Harrier of the year. 

2). At 3:05 I spotted a very high kettle of Turkey Vultures over the brow. They circled higher in the thermal and then all 21 streamed south...exactly like Broad - wings in September. Continued south very high, so I counted my first migrant TV'S of this fall.

Today's totals:
Turkey Vultures- 21
Bald Eagle - 2 (both adults)
Northern Harrier- 1
Sharp Shinned Hawk - 5

Visitors: Jonathan and Shelley Lyon, who live on Jones Gap Rd. and Jim and Sandy Wampler.  Jim had visited the lookout years ago with his mother Betty.

Reporting: Bill Haley
________________________________
 
Some of Bill's pics from yesterday: enjoy. 
Common Checkered Skipper

Gulf Fritillary Chrysalis

 
 
 If you are able, visit on one of his scheduled days.  Or call him, or e-mail  Jimmy (tenacbirder@comcast.net), for an appointment day.   Raptor migration is still in full swing, and we are still reminding everyone to:
 
KEEP LOOKING UP!!!
 
Jimmy and Cynthia
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)