Sunday Visitors, Some Were Not Hawks! LOL

"Soddy Mountain hawk totals,
Sun., Oct. 21, 2018

Coverage ( all times EST):

1115 - 1545 = 4.5 hrs.

Counter: Bill Haley

Helper: David Crisp

Weather: Completely clear blue sky all afternoon, clouds 0. Wind N 5-10 @ 1115, dropping to N 1-3 @ 1300 and continuing light till 1545. Temperature 48-57 F. Barometric pressure 30.36 and gradually going down to 30.28. Humidity 47%-33%. Visibility was an outstanding 75-80K.

Raptors:

1100: BE 1 (1st yr.)

1200: 0

1300: SS 2, CH 1

1400: TV 12, SS 2

Species list:

10/21/18 

Turkey Vulture 12

Bald Eagle 1

Sharp-shinned 4

Cooper's 1

_______________ 

Raptor Total = 18  

     Two noteworthy visitors today. The first had four legs and antlers. I was standing very still at the edge of the bluff when I noticed a 4 point whitetail buck calmly walking down the dirt road from the pole at the North end of the lookout. Wind was in my face so I was down wind. He couldn't smell me, and it was clear that he didn't see me. When he was less than 50 feet away, he finally noticed me. Immediately his neck stretched up and he stared at me for almost a minute. Then he turned and bounded over the bank to his right. First deer I've seen this fall, although I often find tracks. I thought about reaching for my phone and attempting a photo, but couldn't move.

     My next visitor, David Crisp, had been deer hunting earlier and came on the lookout to admire the view. When I told him what I was doing, and that you usually needed binoculars to see the hawks, which were sometimes specks, he assured me he had binoculars that could see the specks. A quick trip to his truck and he returned with 2 pairs of binoculars. He handed me a large pair - high dollar Swarovski 15 power. He wasn't just kidding, the optics were sweet! Suffice to say I could buy 15 pairs of the 10X42's I'm currently using with what he paid for that one pair of Swarovski's!!! The ONLY fault I would have was the weight, which would wear you out in a day of scanning. He also had some nice 10X42's.

     David stayed with me over an hour and although it was a slow day, he got on a few hawks, including a couple I might have missed. He is a good observer, explaining that he does a good bit of elk and pronghorn antelope hunting out west. That type of hunting requires a lot of scanning the terrain with binoculars. He didn't want to leave, and I feel sure I'll see him up there again.

      Most visitors are there for the scenery, and most don't even own binoculars, much less have them handy to join in and help.  

     Four other folks, two who live on Jones Gap Road and a couple from Chicago stopped by for a few minutes. I talked about what I was doing and they were quite interested. Of course, I always tell them to check out our blog, Soddy Mountain Hawk Watch. I'm hoping my Jones Gap folks come back. I requested for the Chicago folks to keep the weather cold, snowy and icy up north, so their hawks come on down to see us.

     Missed a probable Merlin. David and I were watching 2 sharpies over the north ridge, when a small falcon continually attacked one of them. The Sharp-shins continued on south and the falcon dove below the treeline. We never found it again, although I suspect it snuck past us down the valley below the lookout.

     Not a big number of hawks, but still an interesting day. You never know what you'll see on the lookout!

Reporting: William G. Haley, Jr. "

I put up some Osprey pics on the Identification page.  New visitors, please, browse the Blog site.  Lots more Hawk and DATA info on various pages. 

Hello, to our new visitors!  Welcome. Come again soon. 'Til then...

KEEP LOOKING UP!!!