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

Saturday, September 23, 2017

Several Small Kettles - in the Middle of the Day!

Bill Haley
 
 
Friday
Sept. 22, 2017
 
Broad-winged Hawk migration can be a peculiar thing. With today's technology it is possible to see what BW numbers many different lookouts to our north are getting. Certain lookouts are counting multiple thousands of hawks each day and we wonder if all those thousands of birds will show up here. Truth is they haven't so far this year...yet. Perhaps it would be better to appreciate what we see and not worry so much about keeping up with someone else.
 
Having said that - we counted more hawks than some people see in a year. Hawk watching can be like fishing. Some days you catch a bunch, some days not.

Not the thousands we hoped for today,  but we did see Broad-wings - 195 to be exact.That included groups of 60, 18, 12, 25 and 27. It is not every day you get hawks in gobs like that. Most of them came from 12:40 to 1:46. The rest of the day was tough on the counters, quite hot, with few clouds and few migrants. Maybe tomorrow will bring the thousands.


Harold Birch pulled a Peregrine Falcon out of the clear blue as it rocketed directly over the lookout at 1:48. Nice!
 
Our only Osprey sailed past a BW kettle, just like yesterday. One Sharp-shin and one Cooper's gave us 199 migrant hawks today.
 
Bill Haley
[BW 195
 PG      1
 OS      1
 SS      1
 CH     1 ]


Hawk totals by hour.
8-9: 0
9-10: 0
10-11: SS - 1
11-12: 0
12-1: BW - 96
1-2: OS - 1, CH - 1, BW - 97, PG - 1
2-3: BW - 1
3-4: BW - 1
4-5: 0

Weather stats:
Clear from 8:00 to noon. 7% clouds @ 1:00, 15% @ 2:00, 25% @ 3:00, dissipating to 10% for the rest of the afternoon.
Wind: Light all day, 1-5 mph, starting from the NE and changing to E.
Barometric pressure: 30.07, climbing to 30.10 @ 10:00, and decreasing gradually to 30.02.
Temperature: 70F @ 8:00 to 89F @ 5:00.
Humidity: 85% decreasing gradually to 44%.

Counters:
Jim Rowell: 8:00-4:15
Harold Birch: 9:00-5-003
Roi & Debbie Shannon: 10:00-5:00
Danny Gaddy: 2:00-4:30
Bill Haley: 10:00-5:00                          

Reporting: Bill Haley
 
___________________________________
 
Harold Birch Day !!!
Saturday 9/23
 
Red-tailed Rehab/Release
Victoria Fay will be released by Harold
courtesy of
HAPPINEST REHAB
3 - 3:30pm
 
Welcome all --
&
KEEP LOOKING UP!!!!!
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