Catching up on the Hawkcount situation

About this time of year as things are winding down, some watches have closed, and others just closed this week. Right now, on Monday morning, Dec. 2 2024, I noticed only 13 sites had reported. That number of sites reporting has been under 45 - 50 for several days, and this holiday week was under 25. Some sites were showing late reports in progress so that might change. But there was a definite trend in numbers as well across the board. Except for one report from Cape May, NJ, on Nov. 30 with 73, the only numbersover 50 raptors came from Minnesota on 2 separate sites only one day each. Numbers which are larger from Panama and CRI, ususally up in the thousands,afer ours slow, have also now slowed, with only one report from CRI being 1401 on Nov 28th. Below is a clip from Hawkcount.org with the counts as they stand in the changeover from November into December. Possibly with Soddy being only one of 13 sites still reporting in the US. Some sites only put up numbers once a week, so that might change a bit, but Bill will not be alone if he calls the counts. However, we must be reminded that snow will hamper many northern counts, and as it is continuing to snow there across the midwest from the Great Lakes south, that is not likely to change for a while. Snow is expected to dip as far south as Tennessee this week, so Hawks are not likely to fly from those areas. They will have needed to push through into the area today or in the morning to count anything. Not to say they won't get up and going here, because we won't have the snow, it is not likely anything will move in the snow to get here. Not that they can't or won't move when snow is laying on the ground and the sun has allowed their wings to dry. So it depends on how long the actual snows last and how patchy the snow is falling. But we are expected to be the only area all around us that will not get snow. So it could funnel what is able to push through. That is never a given that they go near the watch, but it sometimes gives us an advantage. Especially out over the river. Here are some clips from the Hawkcount page:(click on the clips to read them.)

KEEP LOOKING UP!!!!