Hello!
Bill found that a glitch had not sent 2 of his reports after Thanksgiving, so we are reporting them, along with his latest report from Saturday. He called this morning to say he was headed up to the watch after church services for his last day of the year. We will put up that last report as soon as he gets it to us. It's a cold watch this week! In the twenties at night, and not very warm during the day. Hope the wind isn't blowing on him today. He is hoping that the snow may have the last of a few migrants on the move during the heat of the day.
He reports that the Vultures he was seeing one of these days are locals. It might be said that the new locals may be birds which have migrated south, and decided to not go further, but in that they are hanging around for the winter, they aren't migrants. The same would be true of any other species which just came this far and stopped. But of those birds which have been radio tagged, those birds which only do a "shift" style migration, usually go as far as Louisiana or Florida and pass us by. It is of course impossible to tell which is occurring unless more birds are tracked, but let it be known, if they aren't showing a migration attitude, they don't get counted!
I have been wanting to post a note for newer hawk watchers, which explains that this time of year, there have been mating and nesting activities already underway, with some species through out the south. Many Bald Eagles and Osprey may have eggs to hatchlings already in the nests. I saw a photo report yesterday of a nest with sizable young being fed , here in Tennessee this week.
I am not sure exactly which others that would be true of. Just sayin' So maybe that would be something nice to investigate in some down time. I'll let you know what I find. The point is, however, it is time to keep eyes open for nests and young, but be sure to keep your distance.
There are at least 2 reasons to keep a safe watching distance:
1. It is important to not disturb the feeding patterns of parents feeding chicks. Without proper nutrition, chicks might be sickly or even die.
2. Large birds of prey will defend the area near their nests. We personally know individual birders who have been attacked by them and slightly injured, not because they were stalking a nest, but because they accidentally got too close during other activities.
If you don't have a lens which is powerful enough to keep a distance, take the best pic you can on a tripod or by supporting your camera against or on something, and crop it. Now days, pixels are large enough to produce some good crops. Better yet, make sketches of the birds features and take notes of what you observe at the nests. We made entire notebooks of info when a combined effort led birders to keep notes on the nesting behavior of Peregrine Falcons at the Chickamauga Dam. A lot can be learned by just knowing when and how often parents switch out feeding or nesting duties, for instance. If nothing else, it tells the story, much better than a picture.
Here are Bill's reports:
Oldest to newest - per Jimmy's request. He hates reading them "backwards." LOL
Thursday
11-30-17
Spent two hours at the hawk lookout this morning. 100% clouds plus no wind, with a little misty rain thrown in at the end equals no hawks. Didn't see a single vulture or local hawk.
Weather: Clouds: 80% when I arrived @ 9:15, 95% @ 10:00, 100% by 11:00. Wind : Calm. Temperature : 49 F - 54 F, Barometric pressure : 30.29-30.18. Humidity: 93% - 86%. Visibility : 25K.
0 hawks.
Counter: Bill Haley, 9:15-11:15.
Reporting : Bill Haley
___________________________________
Friday
12-1-17
Weather: Clouds : 35%@ 10:30, 25% @ 12:00, 35% @ 1:00. Wind : NE 2-5, changing to E 2-5 @ 1:00. Temperature : 57 F - 64 F. Barometric pressure : 30.20 @ 10:30, slowly decreasing to 30.17 @ 1:00. Humidity: 77% - 56%. Visibility : 35K.
Raptors by hour:
10:30-11:00 - 0
11:00-12:00 - RT 1
12:00-1:00 - RS 1, RT 1
1:00-2:00 - BV 19
TOTAL RAPTORS 22 : (BV 19, RS 1, RT 2)
Cloudless Sulphur butterfly - 1
Counter: Bill Haley, 10:30-2:00
Reporting: Bill Haley
___________________________________
Saturday
12-9-17
Weather: Clouds: 0%. Wind: NE 2-5 @ 9:15, NW 4-8 @ 10:00, changing to W 10-15 by 10:30. Temperature: 32 F @ 9:15, 35 F @ 10:00. Barometric pressure: 29.97. Humidity: 51%. Visibility: 70F.
A lot of local vultures, both BV and TV, in the area, but no migrants. No hawks seen. Saw several groups of Sandhill Cranes, all headed west to the Sequatchie Valley to feed. They were all coming from the Hiwassee Refuge to our east.
Hawks: 0
Sandhill Cranes: 31
Eastern Bluebirds: 14 on wires @ 10:15.
Counter: Bill Haley, 9:15-10:45
Repirting: Bill Haley
_____________________________________
Have you noticed the number of butterflies still on the move? Cold weather will probably set that back for a while? We'll see.
Nesting Raptors, and Butterflies in winter--
Now you have 2 more reasons to
KEEP LOOKING UP!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment