3 Hours After Church, Too Few Sharpies

Bill is perplexed why the numbers of Accipiters remain low. But for the umpteenth day this season, the winds and clouds are not as favorable to seeing the birds as on many years in the past. I read down to one of the big sites, who had tons of raptors, who were saying, the winds just had not been favorable for their usual numbers. Even with their numbers, they seemed equally dismayed. But I remember other years with days like this...just not so many of them in a row. The big site said the south winds had backed up the hawks because they could not fly into it successfully. But a change in the wind to a favorable wind out of the NW saw many birds hopping on and riding it as if primed to go, so to speak. I am sorry I cannot remember which site it was, because I would like to direct readers to that exact post. We have had a lot of wind as well. But some days out of the NW. For us, maybe a wind out of the NE would help. But whatever the combo, raptors cannot be found flying within eyesite over the Soddy Mtn Watch within Bill's expectations. Once again we thank all the helpers. Sorry you may not have experienced the numbers of past migrations. But it is what it is. AS I looked over Hawkcount.orgs numbers, quite a few sites had also reported from 1 to 4 hawks for the day, sometimes several days in a row. So we are not alone. It will be interesting to see if season number for the year across the board are low. Did we have a low procuction year? Are there fewer numbers flying, or was weather a big factor in moving them west of us; east of us? I guess we ask these questions every year. And I am not sure we ever will exactly have the answers. Here is Bill's Sunday report: