A Chance to Add The Whooping Crane to Our Records!!! Yay

I am putting up Bill's emails for the 20th and the 22nd. Jacob Wessels, who was able to stay on after Bill had to leave one of these days, had Cranes and a Loon fly over close enough to use his camera lens to capture the event. But the exciting part was that amidst the Sandhills was a beautiful Whooping Crane as well. We know they fly into and out of Hiwassee Refuge and surrounding areas, North of the watch on a regular basis in Fall and Winter. But we have very few opportunities to record one for the hawkwatch. Now of course it isn't a hawk, but we often record other sightings if they are interesting or significant, or just a part of the watch experience. Jacob kindly sent us a few pics, so I want to thank him so much for these. They are proof that he did't just see a white egret or albino Sandhill, but in fact a Whooper, NOOOOO Doubt! Enjoy.------------------------------- On another note: Jimmy and I were cleaning up leaves at our home, which were about to overwhelm us, and at about 2 o'clock on the 21st, I noticed in the sky behind Jimmy that there was a kettle of Turkey Vultures. I don't know how many might have been passing above us before that, but after showing him, he looked up and just counted them, while I scanned the sky only to notice that far in the distant North, one after the other there were more dropping from the high cloud cover. In one hour, they appeared from all over the northern sky with winds shifting them in different migration paths with each new group or kettle. Many of them kettled just over our heads and allowed for them to gather up for a recount. The numbers went as follows:89, 7, 58, 7, 39, 15, 22, 4,and 8. 249 TVs in the hour. Now of course, these will not go into the Watch count for Soddy Mtn. Although, these might could have been seen from the watch because our home is in the valley South of the watch. However, it just goes to show, that you can not ever know where or when hawks will pass, and how impossible it is to cover every hour 100% of the time. What is more, these birds were dropping from very high above the clouds, and if they did not break through the clouds near the watch, then they could have passed that point above the clouds. Not having hawks to count within the radius and height that they can be seen from the watch, does not mean there are no birds of a species passing, or migrating. Many times they pass above the watch, or move down far east of the watch and cross to the west far south of the watch, and sometimes, they simply fly above the clouds. Now for Jacob's photos:

SLOWING DOWN!!! COOOOOOOLD MORNINGS AND HI WINDS

The watch is a rough place to be on cold windy days. Sometimes socked in even if not in the valley, for over half the day. Bill reports that the hours and days on the lookout going forward will be greatly diminished. Know that it isn't over until he calls it, and I often don't do an end of season report until after the holidays. So we will let Bill make the call when he is ready, and see if there are any days worth tucking an hour or two into the record. Weather up north, as he says, isn't pushing large numbers south. Today, first I am posting a day we missed, November 14, before today's post of Friday the 19th. Note that Wed, 17th and Thursday 18th were no watch days. Leading up to the holidays. I wish you all great joy and family fun. May you not be so busy that you can't catch up on some human time. Best wishes to everyone!

Less Time to Spend and Heavy Foggy Mornings

Bill said it didn't clear up til midday,and he was into another project by then, so he didn't go up on the 16th. Below is the 15th. My apologies to the visitors for the later post. I didn't feel well yesterday.

IT'S RED-TAILED TIME!!!

It's going to get colder, while Bill continues to KEEP LOOKING UP!!!

Warm Weather Slows Hawk Movement

This time of year, the remaining hawks up north are making a shift south, rather than a long migration as many earelier birds, if the weather up North is cold enough. This late warm weather, slows that pace. Yet Bill has not been skunked. But it's hard to find only a few birds in so much blue sky, too. Bill reports there was no watch on 11/11/21, Thursday, which was also Veterans Day. Drone footage is scheduled for today. Perhaps they will capture some great fall color. I have needed to get my greenhouse completely buttoned up and all the residual dirty pots washed, and miscellaneous put away from the rework of it. So I am putting up 2 posts today. a day late.

Beautiful Fall Skies, but Blue

Bill is back! Beautiful Weather yields 45 Hawks.

35 AND ZERO

Sometimes there are just empty hours:

Empty Skies to a Highway In One Day

Ending the month of October with two zero days, and 3 days of rains, in the last week doesn't mean it's over. Oh no! It's only the start of the final push. The big boys are in town:

Turkeys on the Move...Vultures That Is!

zero, nada, zilch

No hawks yesterday.

It's The Last Week in October

The Temps certainly are letting us know Fall is in full swing. Here is Monday's report:

October 23 AND 24TH

Can't believe this month is a week from being done! WOW

What To Expect This Time Of Year!!!

I like to post this Chart, which may have have changed a little over the years, but in general helps to know which Hawks we expect to see migrating at which time of year.

Beginning to Count the Blacks

Look at all those Coopers Hawks too! It is time to begin counting the big Buteos and Vultures. Bald Eagles just keep coming!

Rain Puts a Damper on the Count

But there were still a few countables:

Hawkcount Chart

Hawkcount.org website is where our numbers are recorded for national archival. Hawk count sites across the US have reported there even before the electronics were available. Even prior to Jimmy's posts to the online records, Bill sent in paper records. I try to put spreadsheet up for occasional cross reference and today was a day I used it to correct an error I made in entries. So glad to have it as a resource, and appreciate Jimmy so much for making those entries and double checking the numbers religiously. Jimmy is to be thanked for this record, and for comparing the blog frequently to let me know if I missed something. I usually post the chart at the end of the month, but I wanted to post near the middle of this month, but waited until we passed the 100,000 mark. So here it is.

A Good Count and Another Late BW

Thursday is a 67% chance of rain, generally not a day to be on the watch. Bill lives close now, and can make the choice in minutes to catch a little sun, but often takes these days off. If you go, just know there is no protection from downpours, lightening, or cold wet winds, except your car. And your equipment can get very wet. Birders are certainly not unaware, and have been there on many counts. Just know to be prepared. Wednesday's report!!!

A FEW DAYS OF LOW TEMP NIGHTS, THE LATEST BW COUNTED SO FAR

An unexpected late Broad-winged Hawk means you just can't discount them. But a series of very cool nights are triggering the heartiest of the north to start heading south. Expecting numbers of Red-shouldered, Ret-tails, and Turkey vultures to start picking up over the next month. Yesterday's report:

100,000 RAPTORS COUNTED!!!

WOOHOO! HURRAY! AWESOME! AMAZING! STUPENDOUS!! OK enough already: LOL Cold weather Hawks are next in line and on their way for sure! Bill says he is hanging in there for the next 100,000 as long as he's able!!! Here's to the next 28 years of Raptor counts!!!

NW Winds.....BAD for Migration Counts Over Soddy Mtn.

SUPER WINDY COLD FRONT

Not much opportunity to see many hawks as windy as it was on Saturday. But Bill pulled out just a few. As I am writing this the skies this morning are super blue, no clouds, also hard to count hawks in, but since mostly accipiters and falcons are dominating the numbers, maybe the cool weather will keep them a little low...hopefully, anyway. Because Bill needs so few hawks to bring the all time hawk migration count for Soddy Mtn to 100,000 Raptors. It could happen today.

SHARPIES BY THE DOZENS - AMAZING COUNT DAY!

TODAY'S AMAZING COUNT PUTS BILL HALEY ONLY 16 RAPTORS FROM HAVING AN ALL TIME MIGRATION COUNT OF 100,OOO BIRDS!!!!

Merlins Just Keep Rolling By!!

Have no idea why this season is bringing so many Merlins into the count. But this is the best season ever for Migrating Merlins at Soddy Mtn. Bill surpassed his largest count for them some time ago and the numbers just keep rising. Great seeing them fly by the watch this year. In addition, Bill had a Kestrel today. The number of days he's seen at least one falcon in this first leg of the migration was remarkable. Also, Bill is so close to reaching the 100,000 mile marker for the all time total on the watch being 100,000 birds. Under 100 now at 82 after this report is entered. He definitely should hit the mark in the next 2 to 3 days! Here's the report.

Very Dense Fogs These Days

RAINED OUT

The Official Count to Hawkcount.org

On Sunday the 10th, Bill reports only 7 in his totals of SS for the day, with a total of 11 Raptors. But when Jimmy records the data, he puts in the hourly totals in the Hawkcount records, and they give us the official total back. Hawcount's chart auto adds the numbers. If there is a report descrepancy, Jimmy asks Bill for a final. So today is one of those days. I will record the official numbers, because I need to agree with the hawkcount totals to verify our numbers on a daily, monthly basis. So at end of season, Bill may have a hawk here and there, more or less than his official report. It is extremely difficult at season's end to go hour by hour bird by bird to find the differences. So we try to keep on track of them daily. But even so, there will be a slightly different total. Last year it was several birds, and all we do on our end is verify that what Jimmy enters matches Bill's hourly birds, unless he instructs us for exact changes. Today will be one of those days. Bill specified we enter the sharpies as 7. So his final numbers are on his report that way. But Jimmy changed the hourly on Hawkcount,org to reflect that change. I only mention it here, so we have a reason to know there was a change made, and there is no confusion later. Because Jimmy will often refer to here to compare notes, just as I record Bill's emails, and refer to Hawkcount to verify we all 3 agree to the best of our ability. It is only a testiment to maintain accuracy as much as possible. And in case you read the report and add the numbers..LOL Numbers can be changed after the fact for a number of reasons. One of the most common is not feeling good about a call of a super high bird. Sometimes that can be resolved by entering in the column of Unidentified Raptors: Accipiters, Falcons, Buteo, Eagle or just plain Raptor. Sometimes it is just an issue of not being sure it was migrating. And others...Maybe if it was a raptor at all. So this decision comes up. And now we know why the report and the count don't match today. And that is OK. OK??? HAPPY FALL Y'ALL!

FRIDAY AND SATURDAY 8TH AND 9TH, HIGH FLYING SHARPIES

SHARPIES RULE-- We verified a couple of numbers, and have 2 reports to put up-- I always wish to thank the visitors to the Hawk watch, especially those who drive in some distance and stay to help count-- Anyone who doesn't stand on that hill for hours, may not realize how hard it can be on your body, and eyes for sure--- Blue skies and a broad expanse of sky make it easy to miss birds--- MORE EYES TO THE SKIES has been a long standing motto for us--- And the numbers often reflect the help--- So, again, THANK YOU!!!

Back to Back Days, Part Rain Part Sun

OOOOOPS!!! Bill missed one Red-tailed Hawk in the count on the 7th. It happens. Jimmy brought it to my attention after I posted. My job to post and double ck the running totals, his to double ck the entries. So I am just adding 1 bird to everything, and taking one bird from the countdown. New total on the 7th is 154.

AFTER THE RAIN ON TUESDAY

A Break In The Rain

I think Bill might be getting a little excited, if I twist his arm about the 100,000 mile marker. LOL He is moving in on the target almost every day. Barring heavy rains...in a day or two for sure!

September Overview

I like to post a picture of Hawkcount's chart for September as close as I can to the first of October.---This chart also includes a line for the fall totals until now. Rain this morning will dampen Bill's chances today.--- At this point all the numbers match Bill"s reports and mine and Jimmy's entries concur. Great way to keep accuracy. We have at least 5 double checks that point out errors. the countdown is merely an extra one this year.

A FEW MORE HAWKS IN THE AFTERNOON

3 Day Catch UP---Computer Crash...Uggh

___________________________________________________________________ KEEP LOOKING UP!!!!

Warm Weather for a Day