SITE DESCRIPTION

SITE DESCRIPTION:
"The Soddy Mountain hawk lookout is located in southeast Tennessee on the eastern face of Walden's Ridge (the Cumberland Escarpment) in Hamilton County, a short distance north of the town of Soddy-Daisy, TN. It lies at the eastern terminus of Jones Gap Road atop a bluff overloooking Hwy. 111 and the beautiful Tennessee River Valley to the east. The hawk lookout location is state-owned land, and there are currently no restroom or eating facilities nearby. Hawk watchers are advised to bring their own folding lawn chair, sunscreen, a hat, and drinking water, as well as binoculars and a field guide. Caution should be used at all times, especially if children are present, as there is no fence to prevent a fall off the nearby 75 foot bluff. The hawk lookout proper is level ground." *

No Shelter is available, and parking is on a level below the lookout grounds. The climb to the watch site is up a steep bank about 8' high. Other helpful tools might include an umbrella or spotting scope, although on a good day, you might not find time to use either.*

Courtesy of William G. (Bill) Haley, compiler and author of the brochure, Soddy Mountain Hawk Lookout, produced for TOS.

Red-tailed Hawk

Red-tailed Hawk
Falconer Mr. Johnson's Red-tail

Saturday, September 23, 2023

Blue Sky with Friends

There are days, as we have said before in years past, which should be days to see thousands of hawks, but the skies are blue. Even with lots of great help, either the hawks are too high to see, or don't stand out against the blue, or the weather just has them tracking elsewhere. Friday was that day. I am so sorry to the 4 precious people who came to help. We thank you so much for coming. Bill was hoping to cross the 1000 bird mark for Broad-wings, but the 1000 bird total would have been nice too. But with only 8 hawks seen, he is at 999 total hawks. But while I am on numbers, we crossed over into 76,304 BWs for all time, and 104,594 hawks of all species for an all time total. In this our 30th year, 105,000 is a very real possibility this year. Bill would say I just jinxed him. But one good BW or TV flight could get him there before season's end. BTW, we have had crowds a day or two in the past and zero hawks for the day. But the company is always good. Click on the reports to view them.
Here's Friday's report:
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)