That One 30 Minutes of the Day When...

'Soddy Mountain hawk totals
Sept. 29, 2018.

Coverage: 0930-1630 EST

Counter: Bill Haley

Guests: Bill Holt (1030-1300), Woody Woodiel (1300-1630)

 

Broad-wing Grand Finale? 

I expected to see a lot of Broad-wings when I arrived at the lookout this morning. I figured there might be many that didn't make it through yesterday. Instead it took me an hour to see the first one. Luckily I did count an adult Bald Eagle and a Peregrine that sailed directly overhead, along with several sharpies that showed up in the interim. Bill Holt made his first appearance on the lookout this fall, and things were slow. I had to ask myself if almost all the BW's had indeed gone by yesterday. I'd seen a mere 18 by 1452. Bill left at 1300 and Woody Woodiel, who I hadn't seen in several years, was there. I really wanted to show him a kettle, even though that seemed unlikely. At 1455 I spotted a kettle of 51, right in the middle of a big cloud in front of us. Should be easy. Right? Wrong. Woody had a small little pair of compact binoculars and despite my best efforts, he didn't find a single hawk. Seven minutes later, a much larger group totaling 110 birds streamed into the same cloud. Did Woody see them? Nope! (And these were mid-range birds, not specks.) I'm not sure which of us was more frustrated after he missed over 160 fairly easy birds right at the very end of BW migration. I thought there might not be another chance. Incredibly, six minutes later another 67 BW'S came streaming through! Woody finally got on some of them. Another kettle of 18 two minutes later, and a final four seven minutes after that was the end of a very surprising 30 minutes. Was it the BW Grand Finale for fall 2018? Guess that question will be answered tomorrow.

Weather: Clouds started at 80% and dwindled to 40% at days end. Wind was from the NE all day, usually 2-5 mph, with occasional gusts. Barometric pressure fell during the day from 30.24 to 30.18. Temperature ranged from 71 F - 82 F. Visibility was an excellent 65 - 70 K all day. Humidity fell from 78% -45%.

Hawks by the hour:

0900: 0

1000: OS 1, BE 1 (ad.), BW 13, PG 1

1100: BE 1 ( imm.), SS 5, BW 1

1200: OS 1, SS 3, BW 2, RT 1

1300: BW 1

1400: BE 1 (imm.), SS 1, BW 52

1500: SS 1, BW 190, AK 2, ML 1

1600: BE 1 (ad.), RT 1

9/29/18

Totals:

Osprey 2

Bald Eagle 4

Sharp-shinned Hawk 10

Broad-winged Hawk 269

Red-tailed Hawk 2

American Kestrel 2

Merlin 1

Peregrine 1

____________________

Total raptors = 291

Migrant butterflies:

Cloudless Sulphur 53

Monarch 8

Reporting: William G. Haley, Jr"

 

We are inching toward a 90,000 bird grand total for 26s years of counting. I used to joke about reaching a 100,000 hawk mark, but it doesn't seem so far away now.  Although storms have affected flights for certain this year, our numbers are not way higher or way lower than several average years.  I am pleased with the team's reports this year, and sad I couldn't participate on the watch itself. 

Want to praise the guys and especially Bill for the dedication and long hours.

 

Great Birding all....

KEEP LOOKING UP!!!!

The Skies Opened Up to MIgrating Hawks

"Just as they hoped, the hawks did not fail.  Tomorrow might also be a great hawk watching day."

Soddy Mountain hawk totals
Fri. , Sept. 28, 2018

It was a good day to be on the Soddy Mountain hawk lookout! Hundreds of Broad-wings and the best species diversity of the fall followed four days of rain. The clouds were very slow to clear out, which probably kept our numbers down a bit. The Broad-wings enjoyed playing hide-and-seek in the low clouds all day, routinely disappearing into the clouds. Sometimes they would appear suddenly streaming out of cloud to join others we were watching.

Coverage: 0700-1700

Counters: Bill Haley,  Jim Rowell

Weather: (all times EST)

0700: Clouds 100%, wind calm, temp. 68 F, hum. 90%, baro. 30.11, visib.  15K.

0800: Clouds 100%, wind NE 1-2, temp. 66 F, hum. 87%, baro. 30.14, visib.  10K.

0900: Clouds 100%, wind E 2-5, temp. 67 F, hum. 84%, baro. 30.15, visib. 8K.

1000: Clouds 99%, wind NE 1-3, temp. 69 F, hum. 81%, baro. 30.15, visib.  25K.

1100: Clouds 90%, wind NE 1-5, temp. 70 F, hum. 76%, baro. 30.15, visib. 45K. 

1200: Clouds 85%, wind E 2-5, temp. 72 F., baro.  30.16, visib. 45K.

1300; Clouds 80%, wind E 2-8, temp. 75 F.

1400: Clouds 80%, wind E 3-5, temp. 76 F, hum.  64%, baro. 30.14, visib. 50K.

1500: Clouds 85%, wind E 2-3, temp. 76 F, hum. 64%, baro. 30.11, visib. 60K.

1600: Clouds 65%, wind E 2-4, temp. 79 F, 

hum. 54%, baro. 30.10, visib. 65K.

Hawks by hour:

0700: 0

0800: 0

0900: BW 4

1000: ML 1, BW 40

1100: BW 156, PG 1

1200: BE 2 (1 ad, 1 imm.), BW 205, ML 2, PG 1

1300: SS 1, BW 168, PG 2

1400: OS 1, BE 1 (ad.), SS 1, BW 82, AK 1

1500: NH 1, OS 1, BE 1 (ad.), BW 127

1600: BW 40

Totals

9/28/18

 NH 1

 OS 2

 BE 4

 SS 2

 BW 822

 AK 1

 ML 3

 PG 4

____________

[ Raptor Total 839  ]

 

Monarch butterflies: 16

Reporting: William G. Haley, Jr."

 

Tomorrow is possibly another good day.

 

KEEP LOOKING UP!!!!!

 

 

 

 

FRIDAY HAS BIG POTENTIAL!!!

This is the e-mail I've been waiting to see!

 

"Jimmy;

 

I’m off tomorrow, Fri., Sept. 28, and I plan to be on the hawk lookout all day.

 

When this front moves off to the east, I expect we might have a HUGE hawk flight. It has been several years since we’ve had this many rainy days in September to get the hawks backed up! I suspect that when we get some clearing the “dam will break” and all the Broad-wings that have been trapped to our north will come streaming through. And it won’t just be Broad-wings. I suspect there could be an excellent species mix. Now I’m just keeping fingers crossed that the weather cooperates! Unless it is raining, I’ll be out there to see what comes by.

 

Rockfish Gap, VA had an unbelievable day yesterday, Sept. 26, with a final total of 10,431 total hawks. This included: 15 OS, 16 BE, 3 NH, 192 SS, 16 CH, 3 RS, 10,154 BW, 2 RT, 2 GE, 14 AK, 2 ML, 12 PG. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t jealous of the hawk flights they have experienced there this year. Simply unbelievable numbers!

 

I’m still doubtful that we get all the Rockfish birds at Soddy Mountain. Tammy King said they think they get many of them at Caesar’s Head, South Carolina, and their usually big numbers might support that. I’d settle for a nice percentage of what they saw yesterday. There should be enough to go around.

 

Bill "

 

 

Calling all hawk lovers and guests! Come if you can. We seldom have opportunities with this kind of potential. NO Guarantees! Just high hopes. And a need for eyes to the Skies!

 

Tomorrow's a great day TO

KEEP LOOKING UP!!!!

 

 

Gotta Give in to Pouring Rain.

 But tomorrow might be a great flight when the clouds have given up.  ????

Sunday
Sept. 23, 2018

Bill wrote -

"Jimmy:

You'll get a hawk report from Tami King for today, Sunday, Sept. 23. We had some hawks, but not a large number.

You know the old Kenny Rogers song with the line, "You gotta know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em"? That applies to the hawk lookout too. Tammy and I had a nice time visiting with Starr Klien and her friend Dianne Boyle, who joined us to see a few hawks. Dianne was new to hawkwatching, but used to be an air traffic controller in the Air Force and with FAA, so knows how to use binoculars. Both she and Starr work at Wild Birds Unlimited. 

It slowly clouded over and the last few Broad-wings we saw were low and flapping because they had lost their lift. We heard thunder to the west, so knew our time was probably short on the lookout.

About 3:10 we looked to the south and there was clearly rain pouring out of a nearby cloud - and it was approaching rapidly. It was definitely "time to fold 'em"....our lawn chairs that is. We quickly packed up and got off the lookout. No sooner had we stowed our gear and got in our cars than the deluge began. If we'd hesitated even one minute, we would have been drenched! It rained so hard you could hardly see going down the mountain. Thus our hawk-watching came to an abrupt end today.

Bill"

 

So here's Tami's report:

9/23/18

BW  32

CH   1

______________

Raptor Total: 33

 

"Hi All! 

 

 Bill asked me to send this to ya'll to post on the web and the Hawkcount site.  

The sheet for today is attached.

Began at 10:10. First BW at 10:46.    

Several nice eyeball birds at the beginning. 'Seemed to be popping up after spending the night nearby.

Bill Haley arrived at 1 PM

Visitors: Starr Klien and Dianne Boyle arrived at 1:30. 

Rain shut us down at 3:15. 

'Wish ya'll could've been there!

 

Tami "

 

And a clip from her XL report.  She used to report to Hawkcount.org with this chart.  Jimmy has our numbers there too.  I'll put up the link!~~~ Hawkcount.org

Tami's spread sheet for HMANA style reports

Below, the chart form our site on Hawkcount.org


 

 

 

When I pulled up the download I had saved from Tami, I laughed to see
she had sent me a similar document last year, on exactly
the same date. LOL

Hate we missed seeing you, too Tami, and I've missed seeing everyone this year.
Much appreciation for those who've helped count!
And the visitors.


It's not too late to
KEEP LOOKING UP!!!
 

 

 

A Nice Turn Out!

"Picked up my notebook tally sheet yesterday and
was very surprised that this large Chinese Mantid
 had crawled under the page I was working on, Bill"

Thanks to all the visitors today!

Posts show 10s of thousands of birds coming through at the NE watches, Jimmy said up around New York.  That's big numbers for this late in September.  The way storms are situated to the Mid-west, and the front line of really high lofty thunder storms moving east all along the middle migration route, and the rain encasing us all around, there is a point somewhere that those thousands of hawks must move west.  Will they pass near Soddy, it's impossible to say. But I personally thought today would have been a great day to stay late if I had been there, because the temps in my greenhouse got to over 100.  That means cooling skies would happen late in the day.  All I am trying to say, is everything is set up for good numbers.  IF there are people there to see them.  Many sites are admitting to using scopes to get their numbers, so if the hawks can get lift they will be high. 

Still hopeful for good flights.

Here's the report from today:

"Soddy Mountain, TN hawk totals

 Saturday
 Sept. 23, 2018

Hours of coverage:

0815-1630 = 8.25 hrs. 

Counters: Jim Rowell,  Harold Birch, Jim Wilkerson, Bill Haley. Tammy King

Guests: Lenny Kafka, couple from Oak Ridge, TN.

No big numbers like yesterday,  but we had Broad-wings in small numbers throughout the day.

Weather:

0800: Clouds 65%, wind W 1-2, temp. 71 F, visib. 15K.

0900: Clouds 60%, wind WSW 1-2, temp.  72 F, hum. 82%.

1000: Clouds 30%, wind S 2-3, temp. 74 F, hum. 90%.

1100: Clouds 10%, wind S 4-5,  temp. 76 F, baro. 30.07, hum. 73%.

1200: Clouds 10%, wind S 1-2, temp. 80 F, hum. 65%.

1300: Clouds 10%, wind S 4-5, temp. 82 F, hum. 60%.

1400: Clouds 45%, wind S 2-6, temp. 84 F, visib.  20K, baro. 30.08, hum. 56%.

1500: Clouds 35%, wind S 1-4, temp.  86 F, visib. 35 K,.

1600: Clouds 35%, wind S 2-8, temp.  86 F, visib. 40K

HAWKS:

Osprey: (1) 1:43

Bald Eagle (1) 2:48 (imm.), (1) 4:20 (ad)

Broad-wing (by the hour):

0800 - 0

0900 - 4

1000 - 15

1100 - 65 (kettle of 49)

1200 - 39 ( kettles of 9, 11)

1300 - 5

1400 - 9

1500 -  2

1600 - 0

Total - 139

Peregrine Falcon;  (1) 3:32

9/22/18 

OS 1

BE 2,

BW 139

PG 1.

_______________

Raptor Totals - 143.

Reporting: William G. Haley, Jr "

 

The variety of raptors is definitely missing this year.  But we are proud for every bird sighted.  Lack of records are also always records.  And to get the record, you know what I'ld say...you have to

 

KEEP LOOKING UP!!!

 

Great Job Everyone.!

A Day Bill and Jim Will Never Forget

Birds the storm held back have finally arrived.   I personally believe there are a lot more that were held back and the storms over MN, Ohio, etc, where they would normally pass, may push some East, before they move south.  They may already be near and north of our ridge.  I expect more great days in the near future.  But we'll see.

Today's count has Bill amazed-

" Soddy Mountain, TN hawk totals

 Fri., Sept.  21, 2018 

Hours of coverage: 0800-1745. = 9.75 hrs. 

Counters: Bill Haley,  Jim Rowell,  Tami King.

Today was a tale of two half days. Clouds were 75-85% to start the morning. From 1100 to 1300 we had 100% cloud cover. Hawk total for the first half was 1 Broad-winged Hawk. The second half of the day was better. Shortly before 1:00 some patches of blue sky started to appear and enlarge. It didn’t take the Broad-wings long to take advantage of the clearing. We saw our first four at 1:07, and sightings were regular as the blue increased. 

The real fireworks came in the middle of the 2:00 hour. Jim spotted a small kettle and we were both looking at it, when I decided to look around in case some others were trying to sneak through. I scanned only a short distance to the right, and was astonished to see a huge armada of hawks coming our way! They were in a very broad front and as far as we scanned back along their path there were many more birds appearing in the distance. Words fail me to properly describe what we witnessed as a seemingly endless stream of Broad-wings came directly over the lookout, and at a nice medium altitude that didn't require binoculars to enjoy. Suffice to say this is the largest single grouping of hawks I've ever witnessed. This one stream of 850 hawks was truly awe inspiring! It certainly made up for all those long hours in the hot sun with few hawks we've endured up to this point. They formed several mega - kettles south of the lookout, reminiscent of images I've seen from Vera Cruz,  Mexico, often referred to as "the river of hawks".

Ten minutes later Jim again said, "I've got five, six, seven birds." I looked above his birds and there was another huge kettle! As they streamed out, I added another 280 to our days total. 

That 20-25 minutes will be long-remembered by Jim and I!

Weather:

0800: Clouds 75%, wind NE 1-2, temp. 70 F, visib. 20K. 

0900: Clouds 85%, wind SE 1-2, temp.  71 F.

1000: Clouds 80%, wind SSE 2-5, temp. 72 F, visib. 25K.

1100: Clouds 100%, wind S 1-3, temp. 75 F, visib.  60K.

1200: Clouds 98%, wind SE 1-3, temp. 77 F.

1300: Clouds 60%, wind SE 2-5, temp. 85 F, (dramatic clearing shortly before 1300).

1400: Clouds 45%, wind SE 2-5, temp. 88 F

1500: Clouds 30%, wind NE 2-8, temp 89 F.

1600: Clouds 55%, wind ESE 2-8, temp. 90 F.

1700: Clouds 70%, wind SE 1-5, temp. 89 F.

Hawks:

Osprey (1) 4:23

Bald Eagle (1) 2:12 (ad.), (1) 4:00 (imm.)

Broad-wing  (by the hour)

0800: 0

0900: 0

1000: 1

1100: 0

1200: 0

1300: 16

1400: 1169

1500: 1

1600: 59

1700: 14

Total: 1260

Peregrine Falcon: (1) 1:40

9/21/18

OS 1

BE 2

BW 1260

PG 1

_________

[Total  Raptors - 1264]

Reporting: William G. Haley, Jr."

 

Hope some people can get out there to help them

Keep Looking UP!!!

For the sake of the blog record, ongoing:
1. we are only 1475 birds from crossing a 90000 raptor mile marker Grand Total.
2. We are only 19 BW's from having a Grand Total of 66,000.
3. We are less than 100 birds from having 2000 for the season. 
4. We are right inline with the numbers being seen East of us in NC.
5. Several mile marker records could be surpassed tomorrow!!!

You Gotta Eat Right to See Hawks. LOL

Florence isn't pushing back the hawks now!!!

Bill and Jim opened the day with hawks from the start.  It's prime time, as most of you know, and masses of hawks have been passing west of us, and are reaching the Texas border.  But now it's our time.  Hopes are high the next few days for a great number of hawks to pass the watch.  Join Bill and Jim if you are able. They could use the eyes.  Jimmy plans to try it for a day on Saturday, and depending on how it goes, on Sunday. We'll see after that.

Now here's the real story~

"Soddy Mountain, TN hawk totals

Thurs., Sept. 20, 2018.

Hours of coverage: 0800-1630.

Counters: Bill Haley, Jim Rowell

We started the day with a number of nice kettles of Broad-wings between the 1000-1100 hour. We didn't have many clouds for most of the day, as we did the past couple of days. The mostly clear blue sky offered a big challenge to find hawks that got continually higher during the day. Some of the kettles were truly tiny grains of pepper that were tough, even when viewed with our 10x binoculars.

Weather:

1000: Clouds 0, wind NE 1-3, temp. 75 F, visib.  15K, (Very hazy over valley. Worst visibility of the fall).

1100: Clouds 0, wind E SE 1-3, temp.  80 F, visib.  20K.

1200: Clouds 1%, wind SE 2-5,  temp.  83 F.

1300: Clouds 5%, wind S SE 2-5, temp.  85F.

1400: Clouds 15%, wind ESE 1-4, temp. 88 F, visib.  35 K.

1500: Clouds 35%, wind SSE 2-5, temp. 90 F.

1600: Clouds 5%, temp. 92 F.

Hawks:

Osprey (1) 11:08

Bald Eagle: (1) 12:42, (1) 2:40 (both adults)

Broad-winged Hawk:  440 total

(Total BW by the hour)

1000-1100: 239 (kettles of 14, 21, 12, 50, 30, 40, 17, 39)

1100-1200: 10

1200-1300: 2

1300-1400: 3

1400-1500: 130 (kettles of 40, 43, 37)

1500-1600: 54 (kettle of 45)

1600-1700: 2

Totals: 9/20/18

OS 1

BE 2

BW 440

______________ 

[Raptor Total - 443] 

Notable sightings: American White Pelicans (17) 12:08, flying along north ridge, east to west. Incredible that we've seen this species 3 times this week!

Red-headed Woodpecker - 9

Migrant butterflies:

Cloudless Sulphur 43, Monarch 3

Eagle "bait" ( tongue firmly in cheek). Yesterday while I ate a peanut butter and banana sandwich, we got our first countable Bald Eagle of the fall. Today I told Jim I was going to draw in another Bald Eagle with another peanut butter and banana sandwich. Guess what? Using the "Harold technique" while eating my sandwich, I was looking at a Black Vulture when I spotted a speck behind it in the distance coming our way in a glide. The speck eventually turned into our first BE of the day.

Hawk "bait" (ditto above): While eating my signature peanut butter and dill pickle sandwich (hey, don't knock it till you try it), at 2:30 we had BW kettles of 40, 43 and 37. It took awhile to finish that sandwich. Jim wanted me to eat another one. LOL!

Never let it be said that we don't do cutting edge research as well as have some fun on the lookout!

Stay tuned, Jim and I will be there tomorrow.

Reporting: William G. Haley, Jr"

 

Get on up to the watch these next few days. Take a chance and

 

KEEP LOOKING UP!!!!!

 

 

PS....Bring your hawk bait!

Triple Digits...FINALLY

Today's Report from Bill and Jim:

"Soddy Mountain hawk totals
Wednesday
Sept. 19, 2018

Arrive 0800 (Jim Rowell), 0900 (Bill Haley). Left 1700.

Today was our first triple digit day this fall. We are still not seeing really large numbers of Broad-winged Hawks, but are headed in the right direction. Weather data is still not complete, lacking a weather radio, so humidity and barometric pressure are missing.

Weather:

0900: Clouds 10%, wind calm, temp. 72 F, visib. 30K. 

1000: Clouds 30%, Wind E 1-3, temp. 76 F,  visib.  35K. 

1100: Clouds 20%, wind ENE 2-4, temp. 79 F.

1200: Clouds 30%, wind E 1-5, temp. 82 F.

1300: Clouds 45%, wind NE 1-3, temp. 86 F, visib. 50K. 

1400: Clouds 40%, wind E 2-8, temp. 88 F.

1500: Clouds 65%, wind E 1-3, temp. 90 F. 

1600: Clouds 60%, wind E 1-3, temp. 91 F, visib.  60K.

1700: Clouds 50%, wind E SE 1-3, temp. 91 F.

Hawk numbers:

Osprey (1) 12:03

Bald Eagle (ad.) (1) 1:40

Broad-winged Hawk (by hour)

1000-1100: 1

1100-1200: 4

1200-1300: 4

1300-1400: 13 (kettle of 8)

1400-1500: 3

1500-1600: 88 (kettles of 43 & 39)

1600-1700: 23 (kettle of 22)

Peregrine Falcon: (1) 2:01, (1) 2:42

(Both Peregrines very high.)

Hawk totals:

OS 1

BE 1

BW 136

PG 2

____________

[Raptor Total 140] 

Migrant butterflies:

Cloudless Sulphur - 78, Monarch - 4.

Counters: 9.0 total hours

Jim Rowell 0800-1700, Bill Haley 0900-1700.

Reporting: William G. Haley, Jr."

 

 

The Bald Eagle is the 7th new countable species of the season so far.

Thanks for keeping up with us, it encourages them to

 

KEEP LOOKING UP!!!!

Never a Bad Falcon Day

Soddy Mountain, TN hawk totals
Tues., Sept. 18, 2018. 

Arrived: 0800 (Jim Rowell), 0945 (Bill Haley). Left 1545 due to rain. We hoped for numerous hawks today, but it seems the big numbers are probably still to our north. Weather from Hurricane Florence continues to affect both Soddy Mountain and areas above Tennessee.

Weather:

0800: Clouds 40% , wind N 2-4, visibility 30k, baro. 29.98. 

0900: Clouds 45%, wind N 1-2, temp. 71 F, visibility 50K.

1000: Clouds 40%, wind N 2-4, visibility 55K.

1100: Clouds 20%, wind E 1-2, temp. 75 F, visibility 65K. 

1200: Clouds 55%, wind N 2-5, temp. 77 F.

1300: Clouds 60%, wind N 3-10,  rain showers to south and east, temp. 80 F.

1400: Clouds 80%, wind N 1-2, temp. 82 F. 

1500: Clouds 85%, wind NE 2-4, visibility 35K, 

temp. 84 F. Big rain storm approached from north, and we left lookout at 3:45 when it began to rain.

Cooper's Hawk: (1) 11:49.

Broad-winged Hawk: (3) 11:03, (1) 11:34 (low), (1) 11:348 (low), (1) 2:25 (low), (1) 2:34 (low), (1) 2:45 (low), (1) 2:50 (low).

Peregrine Falcon: (1) 10:58.

Sept. 18, 2018

Totals:

CH 1

BW 9

PG 1

____________

[Total Raptors 11 ]

The five BW, starting at 2:25, were all near eye level and were having to flap as they came by the lookout. At the time a heavy rain shower was to the northeast, about 2-3 miles away, over the town of Sale Creek. All these birds were obviously getting away from that shower. 

Peregrine Falcon was a great first bird of the day! Nice looks!

Notable sighting: 13 American White Pelicans flew over the lookout at 1201 flying south. They were at medium altitude, and we had great looks! The ones yesterday, by comparison, were at extreme distance.

Counters: Jim Rowell 0800-1545, Bill Haley 0945-1545.

Migrant butterflies: 

Cloudless Sulphur 38, Monarch 5

Reporting: William G. Haley, Jr

KEEP LOOKING UP!!!

Only The Third Time Seen

Jim and Bill covered the watch today for a while, with no migrants seen during that time.  However, they did see something cool.  I'll let you read for yourself their report.

Monday -Sept. 17, 2018:

"Soddy Mountain hawk report, Monday, Sept.17, 2018. Intermittent light showers throughout the day. Arrived: 0800 (Jim Rowell), 1115 (Bill Haley).

Weather:

0800-1100: Clouds 100%, wind S 1-5, temp. 72 F, visibility 35K.

1100: Clouds 100%, wind E SE 1-5, temp. 73 F.

1200: Clouds 100%, wind NNW 2-8, temp. 75 F. Showers to the east.

1300: Clouds 100%, wind WNW 2-10, sprinkling rain, showers over valley to the east, visibility 60K.

1400: Clouds 100%, wind W 4-8, sprinkling rain, temp. 76 F.

1500: Clouds 95%, Wind NW 2-8, small breaks of blue south of lookout, showers all along river to the east, 

1600: Clouds 90%, wind NW 5-10, temp. 78 F, visibility.  40K. 

Total hawks: 0

Notable was a sighting much more uncommon than the hawks that we didn't see. At 1500 I spotted 30 American White Pelicans in the distance to the east flying in a long string up the Tennessee River. Birds were traveling from south to north, heading towards the Hiwassee Refuge area near Birchwood, TN. This is only the third time I've seen this species from the hawk lookout in 26 years.

Only hawks seen all day were both locals; 1 RT, 1 SS.

Jim Rowell 0800-1600. Bill Haley 1115-1600

 

Reporting: William G. Haley, Jr. "

 

Wish we could have been there to see them.

Three notes:

1. I happened to think of the Broad-wings we released last year, and wondered if some of the locals which the guys have seen are those birds?

2. Jimmy has the data up on Hawkcount.org now and will attempt to keep it somewhat current.  

3. Hawk Ridge Observatory in MN reported large surges of hawks this weekend, so they are now on the move from that area! Over 3000 one day.

 

Better days ahead! So...

 

KEEP LOOKING UP!!!!

 

 

Rainy Sunday, not a problem...

Tammy and Bill managed to get in a little time not disturbed by Florence dropping rain.
Here's the report:

 "Sun., Sept. 16, 2018.

  BW  5

Cloudy weather and light rain, compliments of the remainders of Hurricane Florence, finally reached our area today. Despite almost total cloud cover, Soddy Mountain hawk lookout got some coverage. Tammy King arrived at 11:15, Bill Haley at 12:45. They were forced off the lookout by a light rain from 1:15 to 1:45, then back on the lookout until calling it a day at 2:30, as another rain shower approached from the east.

Weather:

1100: Wind 5-8, clouds 98%, temp.  78 F, hum. 67%, baro. 29.93, visibility.  50K.

1200: Clouds 100%, temp. 78 F, hum. 69%, baro. 29.92, visibility.  60K.

1300: Wind NE 5-10, temp. 80 F, hum. 82%, baro. 29.92, visibility.  50K.

1400: Wind N 5, clouds 100%, temp. 79 F, hum. 69%, baro. 29.90.

Broad-winged Hawk: (1) 12:30, (1) 12:55, (3) 12:58.

Final totals:

BW -5

Monarch butterflies - 2

Counters: Tammy King, 11:15-2:30, Bill Haley 12:45-2:30.

Reporting: William G. (Bill) Haley, Jr. "


That brings the Hawk total up to 50 Raptors so far.   Wonderful to pull those BW's out even on a rainy day!

They assure us that they will
KEEP LOOKING UP!!!

Migration Underway- Sept 13TH - 15th ReportS

My heart is warmed to see watchers on the hill. They are sending these great reports for this week.  
A hurricane just coming in off the coasts of the Carolinas didn't produce any oddities so far, but local BW's flying north remind us of an increase in the sightings of nesting pairs locally.  How cool to call a few BW's locals... Looking forward to the stats this year.

Thanks Jim, Bill and Tammy.
Thursday, Sept 13., 2018 Report:

"Soddy Mountain, TN hawk lookout, Sept. 13, 2018.
 Arrived: 0830 (Jim Rowell), 1015 (Bill Haley). Left 1500. 

Discovered weather radio is inoperable, as a battery had exploded sometime this summer and caused bad corrosion within battery compartment. New batteries didn't work. Weather info will be incomplete. 

1000: Wind NE 1-3, clouds 20%, visibility.  15K,  temp.  79F,  barometric.  30.09, hum. 90%.

1100: Wind NE 2-5, clouds 35%, temp. 83,  visibility.  25K.

1200: Temp. 86F,  visibility.  35K. 

1300: Clouds 30%, temp. 88 F. 

14:00: Clouds 40%, temp. 90. 

Osprey: (1) 12:23,  (1) 1:10.

Broad-wing: (3) 11:27, (1) 12:17, (1) 12:29, (2) 2:23.

Final total:

 

(9/13/ 18)

OS 2

BW 7.

[Raptor Tot. 9]

 

Counters: Jim Rowell,  Bill Haley. (6.5 hrs.)

Of interest, an adult Broad-winged Hawk landed below the lookout on a lower wire above Hwy. 111 to look for prey. Later flew back north. Probably a local bird that has not begun the migration. Bird was not counted.

Two Bald Eagles flying north. Not counted.

Also seen: ~Butterflies~
 

Sept. 13, 2018

Cloudless Sulphur  61

Monarch 5

 

Reporting: William G. (Bill) Haley, Jr."




Friday, Sept. 14, 2018 Report:

 "Arrived: 0830 (Jim Rowell), 1100 (Bill Haley). Left: 1500.

Weather data incomplete - no weather radio.

1100: Clouds 5%, wind NE 8-12, visibility  40K,  temp. 80F. 

1200: Clouds 15%, visibility.  65K,  temp. 85F.

1300: Clouds 5%, temp. 87F. 

1400: Clouds 25%, temp. 91 F.

1500: Clouds 40%, temp. 92 F.

Cooper's Hawk: (1) 10:04.

Broad-winged Hawk: (1) 10:55, (2) 10:57, (1) 11:48, (2) 2:37, (1) 2:45.

Red-tailed Hawk.; (1) 1:03. 

 

Note: This may be the earliest RT I've ever counted. Bird was in sight from a speck to the north and in a constant glide all the way south.  Very distinct and dark belly band and overall much darker markings than any of the local birds seen so far. More like western RT markings.

Two BW, one AD, one IMM. seen flying north. Neither bird counted. Local birds.

Five BE, 3 AD, 2 IMM., seen flying north. None counted.

(3) local RT, (1) local RS. None counted.

Final totals:

 

Friday 9/14/18

CH 1

BW  7

RT 1

________________

[Total Raptors - 9]

 

 

Counters: Jim Rowell,  Bill Haley (6.5 hrs.)

Also seen: ~Butterflies~

Cloudless Sulphur 72

Monarch 2

Reporting: William G.  Haley,  Jr."

 

 

 

Saturday, Sept 15, 2018 Report:

"Soddy Mountain, TN hawk totals, Sept. 15, 2018:
 Arrive 8:15 ( Jim Rowell), 9:15 (Bill Haley), 11:45 (Tammy King). 

Weather:

0900: Clouds 10%, wind NE 8-15, visibility 70 K,  temp. 78F.

1000: Clouds 20%, wind ENE 10-15.

1100: Clouds 40%, temp. 83 F

1200: Clouds 45%, temp. 84 F, baro. 29.98, hum. 75%.

1300: Clouds 20%, temp. 86 F, Baro.  29.97, wind NE 8-12.

14:00; Clouds 35%, temp. 88 F, baro.  30.02, hum. 54%, 

1500: Clouds 60%, temp. 90 F, baro. 29.94, hum. 59%.

Sharp-shinned Hawk: (1) 11:15, (1) 1:12

Cooper's Hawk: (1) 11:124,  (1) 11:52

Broad-winged Hawk: (1) 10:44, (2) 10:57, (4) 11:05, (2) 11:07, (1) 11:15,  (1) 11:18,  (1) 11:31,  (1) 11:39,  (1) 11:45,  (1) 12:09,  (1) 12:23,  (1) 12:27,  (1) 1:34, (1) 2:00, (1) 2:29. 

Totals: 9/15/18
 SS 2
CH 2
BW 20
______________
[ RaptorTotal - 24]
 

Counters: Jim Rowell 8:15-3:00, Bill Haley 9:15: 4:00, Tammy King 11:45-4:00. 

Migrant Butterflies: Cloudless Sulphur 49, Monarch 4.

Reporting; William G. Haley, Jr. "

 

 

 You might notice that Bill has included some local stats, which we sometimes don't keep, nice to see these especially since we can't be there. Sorry we couldn't join you guys. 

Appreciate the report!

 

 As always ~

KEEP LOOKING UP!

 

 

A New Tool

Alabama birder, Gregory J. Harbor, sent a message to ALBIRDS, listserve, suggesting that mirgratory paths might be affected by winds, and wanted to use this info to know good days to see warblers in his area.  We could do the same for hawks.  We have always looked at the wind predictions for the day to hope for optimum conditions for seeing kettles of BW's.  But have always wished we could know the conditions north of us a couple of days out, to see where the winds might have pushed hawks heading south.  Knowing the migration route, we find ourselves most concerned with winds that follow a NE to SW path.  Because our hawks are generally following the ridges north of us in that direction.  So I suggest you plan your hawk watching opportunities around checking out this website.  Wind direction and cloud cover have always been high on our priorities for making sure the watch above Soddy Daisy is covered. 

Will be interesting to see if adding the info from this site, will produce good results for guessing migration results. 

Check it out: Windy.com and specifically this page:
 https://www.windy.com/?2018-09-15-15,37.751,-97.822,5

I took a screen shot from the wind projections for midday on Saturday the 15th.  It shows Hurricane Florence and the winds coming strongly from over Virginia.  More northerly winds are directed west of us.  What might we guess? Maybe some migrating sea birds?  Hawks that have been sitting ahead of the hurricane? 

Would be interesting to see.

 
 
ck out the site and look at the hour by hour predictions for upcoming days. 
Then set your sites on the skies, because you won't see it if you don't

KEEP LOOKING UP!!!
Cynthia

 

Hawk Watch Season 2018 Officially Open

I have some work to do to catch up the Blog....Please forgive, but I can officially say we have the first Hawk report of the season!  This is what I know so far.

1. The first counted Hawk of the season was a Cooper's Hawk, and the first reporting counter was Tami King. Thank you, Tami.

2. Bill and Tami have designated a few days they know they will be there. 

3. Counters are needed, this season.

Here are the emails from Tami and Bill for the reports and known dates they can be at the watch.   Please follow the Facebook page and links to the blog for updates and records as they come in. :

Tami's report to Bill ~

Sunday Sept. 9

Coopers Hawk   1

Broad-winged Hawks  2

 

"Hope this finds you doing well! In spite of the less than ideal weather I spent nearly 3 hours at the Hawk Watch site today. Attached is the data sheet.  

A Cooper's zipped in high from the north. It was barely visible without binoculars but exhibited the classic shape and a few choppy wing flaps. It headed SW on a straight line at 11:15 AM. At 11:50 I was scanning holes in the clouds and spotted two Broad-winged Hawks really high in a break in the clouds on the same basic line as the Coopers. They circled up, winked in and out as they gained altitude and eventually headed SW  disappearing fast in the clouds. There may have been one more on the same line but it was too difficult to keep track and be sure once they reached the point of lining out so I'm only reporting 2 BW's.  

A few minutes before 1 PM nearby thunder and rain ran me off the mountain. It's not many birds but at least it's a start!  

 I plan on going up for the next couple of Sundays as well though on the 23rd. I'll have to leave earlier than I like to get back to in time to play a concert. 

'Hope to see you some time soon! 

Tami King " 

Bill's reply~ 

"Hello Tami; 

It is good to hear from you! 

Thanks for your report. I’m happy you saw a few hawks. I’ll send it along to Jimmy and Cynthia Wilkerson. Hopefully Cynthia will continue the Soddy Mountain blog this season. 

... I plan to get up to the hawk lookout whenever I can. I will see you up there around 12:30-1pm on Sundays after I get out of church. You mention the next two Sundays. Will you not be available on Sunday, Sept. 30? We are having homecoming at church that day, so it’ll be late, maybe 2:00-2:30, before I can get there that day.  Bill"

 

Bill also mentions that he hopes to get up as often as possible the week of Sept 17th - 21.

Bill says he may be emailed at insul8rbill@yahoo.com  to make reports.   

Mine and Jimmy's health prevents us from making scheduled trips or all day stays.  If we are able later we will post the days we plan go and whether it will be morning or afternoon.  

Anyone able to commit to a few hours, please notify us so we can let other's know. 

Or go...if you can and report your sightings. 

Sundays look like a good regular date for those who wish to visit.  Counters will be glad to have the help, I am sure. 

As always, anytime that the weather is rainy all day, counter will not go, and they will not stay for thunderstorms that get too near.  But if there are days when a front has made it rainy for a day or two, the hawks are usually backed up, and waiting to fly. The day immediately after, or day of when the weather breaks are the best flight days, most of the time.  In addition, the last two weeks of the season are the days most BWs come thru historically, when it is most likely to see kettles. But if you just love hawks, and are willing to wait on the individuals coming through, any day with breaks in the clouds will usually reward you with a migrant, or a glimpse of locals for sure.   

We do not have to be there for birders to enjoy some time at the site.  

Just come prepared:

1. a comfy chair which allows you look up for long periods of time.

2. Sufficient food and water, especially water,  to keep hydrated in the still high temps. In the hi 80s to 90s these days. 

3. Sunscreen and bug spray are a must.

4. A good hat

5. Binoculars are often a must, because the hawks are often high. A good bird book can help sometimes, old or new birders.

6. Sorry, we aren't able to provide the restroom facilities on a regular basis this year. 

Thanks again to Tami King, for getting the season underway!! We appreciate your time soooo much.  Hope to see you one day soon.

As always we would like to remind you, it is definitely time to 

KEEP LOOKING UP!!!

Blessings All,

Jimmy and Cynthia Wilkerson