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: