Migrant picin's might be a bit slim these days, but the Buteos seem to still be making their late season shift from the North. I checked Hawkcount.org a couple of days ago to compare other watches, and discovered that fewer than 10 watches are now still reporting. Their numbers were equally limited, but they too were seeing this same shift in birds who move only shorter distances south relative to the long flights of many earlier hawks and raptors. Waggoner's Gap for instance reported 1 Bald Eagle and 1 Golden Eagle. Cold weather has forced some places to close down, I feel certain. Long exposures to cold day in and day out, isn't wisely worth the time to see 2 raptors for the day. Never-the-less, it is important for us to remember that Migration is still underway, although very sporadic perhaps, at this point for raptors.
For instance, we continue to see Sandhill Cranes moving on to Florida at this time in the year. Something similar to Buteo migration occurs. For Cranes it isn't unusual to say, over this month and January, that Cranes we see at the refuge, are a mix of some which are continuing to move in from the north, some which continue south, and some which remain in our area throughout the winter. It is impossible to say exactly how many are stationary, because even on count days. I have seen huge numbers lift off in the evening and head south way into the darkness. Our count for the day could be drastically reduced by thousands, except for the fact that at the same time, there are sometimes thousands coming in from the North.
At least with raptors, we have the rules of migration upon which to make our counts. They must show the attitudes of migrating birds to be counted. If you are new to this post, that means the hawk should be seen making a definite long track from somewhere in the northern skies to out of sight basically in the southerly skies, and be on the move in that direction through-out the flight. If it lands, we assume the possibility that it's a local; and the same if it heads back north, or plays around in the sky for a while, or dives on prey...anything that indicates it's not on that migration mission. Obviously, we have counted a few times those birds which lifted off from the trees north or NW of our position, and occasionally from nearly due East, but rose early from treetops and proceeded in at least a SW general direction, because they do set down for the night. That's easy when it's a small kettle of Broad-wings for example, but not so easy when it's a late season individual. It would most likely be judged as local bird behavior. Simply because it's impossible to know. But....this time of year, "local birds" are possibly local for the winter only and will head back north by nesting times. So for that reason, Bill may say it's time to call it very soon. That and weather, and time. will bring our season to the end just as it has many of the hawk watch sites across the country. But REMEMBER, hawk migration doesn't end with September Broad-wings. Check out the chart, on our
Stats From the Past
page, to see the historical density of those movements.
Soon, if not after this post, we will put up the final chart, and do a short comparison of this year to previous ones. But for now we have a couple more migrants to post:
"Soddy Mountain, TN hawk report
Thurs , Dec. 5, 2019
Time on lookout: 1215-1415 = 2.0 hr.
Counter: Bill Haley
Weather: 1215 Clear, wind ENE 1-3, clouds 19%, visib. 65K, temp. 55F. 1300 Clouds 2%, temp. 55 F. 1400 Clear, temp. 58F.
Raptors by hour:
1215-1300: RT 1
1300-1400: CH 1, RT 1
1400-1415: 0
Total: CH 1, RT 2 = 3 total raptors
Took a couple of hours today, as this looks like the last sunny day I may get this season. If weather forecasts are correct - clouds and rain slated through the weekend, this might be my last report for Fall 2019.
Reporting: William G. (Bill) Haley"
It's not over til Bill calls it. And I usually wait until after Christmas to close the Blog until next year's Migrations begin.
There are stats worth discussion. What do they show?
We will see soon. Get out somewhere and remember to
KEEP LOOKING UP!!!
C
