Hawk Count Sites with Map

Jimmy and I have wanted for some time to put up a map of the Eastern US which shows some of the sites down the Appalachian Mountain chain where hawk-watchers do counts, especially in the fall.  He began putting dots on a map from the Hawkcount.org website, where counts are posted day by day.  As he put up the dots, it became very clear, what we already expected was  true.  Those sites made a direct line to us on Soddy Mtn.  We thought for  a very long time we were the most southern site along that chain not including the  more eastern sites along the NC/SC western borders.  But we discovered a year or so ago, that at least one more site collects data in a farm field in Alabama. So technically they are not on the Appalachian Chain, but are exactly in line with the direction hawks fly on their way to Texas, at least where sites count them.

The Visual is powerful, and enlightening.  People ask us do hawks not fly anywhere but over the mountains, and the answer is absolutely they do. But they like the lift off the mountain ridges etc, we think, and at higher elevations, they are often more easily seen, since they do rise to great heights. So counting them, at least, has drawn counters to elevations. The view off of mountain ridges is often more expansive and preferably, is 180 degrees or more of visual sky. The watch sites therefore line up in the NE to SW angle that is exactly how the hawk flights tend to run.  In other words, we often find them flying out of the NE to N going generally in a SW to Westerly direction.

Here is a picture of the Atlas map which Jimmy has been placing his little dots onto.  They are numbered 1-24, but not in a specific order, like N to S. They were mostly marked as we began to ck on their stats, and notice the concentrations of sites.  They logically broke down into Northern sites, and Southern sites, and just one in Canada.  I will show the map and then explain a bit.  Here's a link to Hawkcount.org  as well.

 

Yellow dot # 1 is Hawk Mountain, which is the site which got us all interested in keeping data at a site.  They are sort of the Star site for how it is done, with lots of info and a number of books coming from the watchers there, in the earlier years.  Hawk watching is as old as the US itself and older.  But organized Hawk-watching with data collection, which could be shared, came primarily from the watch we all looked up to, 24 years ago - Hawk Mountain.

Orange dot #2 is Detroit River Hawk Watch, the northern most of the middle US migration routes.

Orange dots #3 -15 and 24 are the sites which run most clearly down the Appalachian Mts. They are not as dense as the locations of the northern-most sites. But are somewhat equidistant, and we reference them to see how far south kettles of hawks are being seen and when.  When they are seeing larger numbers, then we may also begin seeing larger numbers within a few days.  As the migrants move south, BWs tend to group into ever larger kettles.  Those groups trigger watchers to be intent on finding the kettles, which are more easily spotted than single birds.  It's just a means of anticipating good birding days by checking in with the northern sites.

Green dots #16 - 23 are the most northern spots, with #23 being in Canada, noted by the blue arrow.  By no means did we list all the northern sites. They are very dense, especially in the Massachusetts area.  By visiting Hawkcount.org all of the sites up north can be seen with their daily counts.  We simply noted one or two in the states along the line, which emphasized the SW direction, along which the sites lie.

Here's the list:
1. Hawk Mountain, PA
2.Detroit River HW, MI
3. Snicker's Gap HW,  VA
4. Rockfish Gap HW, VA
5. Harvey's Knob HW, VA
6. Mendota Fire Tower, VA
7. Soddy Mtn HW, TN
8. Mill Crk Rd HW, AL
9.Corpus Christi HW (in Texas, does not show on this picture)
10. Allegheny Front HW,
11. Bake Oven Knob HW
12. Jacks Mtn. HW
13. Militia Hill HW
14. Second Mtn. HW
15. Waggoner's Gap HW,
16. Wachusett Mtn. HW, MA
17. Hook Mtn. NY HW, NY
18. Chestnut Hill HW, CN
19. Putney Mtn. HW, VT
20. Carter Hill Observatory HW
21.Clarry Hill HW, ME
22. Cadilac Mtn. HW, ME
23. Greenlaw Mtn. St Andrews NF Canada
24. Caesar's Head HW, SC
This map does not occur on Hawkcount.org, it is Jimmy's Atlas and info.  But the sites are gleaned from that website's info.  Individuals or groups can sponsor a page to help keep the info available.  Soddy watch is not presently on Hawkcount.org, but has applied. At which time, sponsors would be appreciated, or donations so that our stats can remain visible.  Jimmy would like to go back in the future and enter our past data. 

Soddy Mtn. Watch Data is primarily visible from this blog
(http://soddymountainhawkwatch.blogspot.com/) .
 Data ranges from 1992 to present, and the Grand Totals are posted in the top left corner of the blog and is updated each year to reflect the stats for that year.

Check our page: STATS FROM THE PAST for the charts and numbers break down.   
And look at our page: BEST RECORDS  for the highlights over the years.

There are several other pages on the right side bar, if you scroll to below recent year totals. 

Thanks for allowing us to help you see "us" as part of a larger whole, a large group of dedicated hawk-watchers who have spent years putting forth data for all to see, and tell a story we only just have begun to understand.

Keep Looking Up!