We waited for clouds to clear a bit before going up today. On Hwy 127, I looked up through our roof window and saw 6 thermaling Broad-wings. We of course, do not include hawks seen off the site in the numbers we report to you. Unless we are riding right under the hawk watch up the hill on Hwy. 111. Because they could be seen from there, if we were there. LOL But it was an indicator to us, that we needed to be there as the clouds cleared. Most birds today flew West in singles.
From 1 to 5 o'clock we saw:
32 Broad-wings
1 Immature and 1 Adult Bald Eagle
Our new countdown number: 494 Broad-wings needed to reach or goal of *50,000 BW's counted in fall migration at Soddy Mtn. Hawk Watch.
A note of interest, we recorded 12 migrating Hummers seen today, 9/14. They became so obvious, we decided to begin keeping track of some of them when possible. I also saw my first Monarch Butterfly today as well.
Jimmy's Week One Summary:
We started our watch on Wednesday Sept. 10th as
planned. Every day
this past week we were presented with weather delays due
to rain and
were only able to get in 16.50 hours over 4 days. Raptors
seen:
107 Broad-winged Hawks
1 Red-shouldered Hawk
1 Northern
Harrier
1 Sharp-shinned Hawk
1 Cooper's Hawk
1 Osprey
4 Bald
Eagles (2 adults and 2 immature's)
The next two and a half weeks are
expected to become more promising.
As posted a few days ago, this season we
are looking to break a record
by seeing our 50,000th Broad-winged Hawk.
Currently we stand at 494
broadie's needed to break this record. Sometime
in the future we could
accomplish this goal instantly by counting a single
mega kettle!
Keep looking up!!!
Jimmy and Cynthia Wilkerson
Hixson,
Hamilton Co., Tn.
Check out the Florida Keys Osprey numbers!
Red-tailed Hawk
Falconer Mr. Johnson's Red-tail
Sunday, September 14, 2014
Saturday, September 13, 2014
No Flight Patterns Today
Today's count:
49 Broad-wings, one Kettle of 13
1 Sharpe Shinned Hawk
1 Cooper's Hawk
1 Osprey
1 Red-Shouldered
We waited on the complete over cast skies to open up, today, even though we might have had opportunities to see Accipiters earlier. Arriving a little after noon, we found Bill Holt had arrived before us, and already had counted 3 Broad-wings, just as the skies cleared a bit. That set a tone for the day.
Instead of finding the hawks in a dependable flight pattern, they were appearing any where a bit of blue sky could be seen, as holes in the clouds appeared and disappeared rapidly, in hundreds of segments of the sky. Thank goodness for an extra pair of eyes. I bet we missed a few birds because of the quickness of the flights of our raptors today. A 15mph NW wind drove them along, and helped them soar to remarkable heights. In the distant clouds, we watched them become "microscopic" as they soared in kettles that took them from blue sky up into grey clouds and out the top into the open, with bright white clouds in the back ground.
We watched one kettle of at least 13 birds go higher and higher until it had almost risen as high as the highest clouds, through several layers, before they ever peeled off to the south. They were less than specks, but too amazing to take our binocs off them. It took quite a while for them to rise that high, and were very difficult to see, even when they emerged from the clouds. At times, when they disappeared into the deep gray, we just patiently continued to scan the area at a higher and slightly southward place, where they would reappear, thermaling higher and higher, through layer after layer of clouds.
Why does that even mean anything to me as a hawk watcher? Well, we have questions like: "Do hawks fly on cloudy days?" Generally, we consider "socked in" days unproductive, because we can't see many Broad-wings. But I have now been there on days when-
1. conditions are right and hawks are on the move,
2. when the clouds were breaking up, and
3. we see the BW's appear suddenly from "nowhere",
-to now know, definitively.
>They DO fly if the clouds are somewhat low, or are broken and rapidly changing, with blue sky above. But they fly above the clouds, where we generally can't see them. To do so they must have an opportunity somewhere north of us to rise on the thermals to get to those heights. There must also be birds aggressively ready to move.
We don't always have the chance to actually watch that great feat occur except on days with unique weather like we had today. Sure we see them rise on thermals, but we generally see them rise to a certain height and peel off the top toward the West or SW from over or just off our ridge. But many of the Broadies we have seen the last few days were seeking the thermals that formed in spite of the clouds, over highways, and over the river. Way out over the valley. From that perspective we could see them mount up through layer after layer of clouds, until they were almost invisible.
The same thermal, seemingly, moves as if traveling along like a slow moving tornado, driven by the winds. In other words. Birds that we first see low in the funnel, will continue to rise, apparently, in the same funnel, but will continue to move in the direction the funnel of air is moving, and at that rate. We may first see them due east, but by the time they have reached the top, many hundreds of feet high, and 15 minutes later, they are miles south of the original location, but appear to be in the same funnel of rising air. This scenario, is different than the one we often see over the ridge, where even large numbers of hawks may move through, catching one thermal after another, rising on each, for a short distance and flying to the next. They do rise on single thermals to great heights over the ridge, but in general, the thermal remains relatively stationary, in comparison to what we saw today.
I can only assume that the Winds and the heat from previous day, were causing an extreme rising of air and moisture that was unique for this time of year. It was something that Bill Holt remarked upon as being odd for us on the watch. And we agree.
Jimmy wished that I also remark that we counted our first in each of the 4 species of Raptors that were not BW's today: Osprey, Sharp-shinned, Red-shouldered and Coopers Hawk. Although we saw others of the Accipiters and the RS that played and hunted like locals, these 4 birds flew from when we first spotted them like they were on a mission to get further south. They "acted" like migrating birds should.
One more note: Harold Birch's recommendation to never neglect scanning a kettle of Vultures for an opportunity to find other migrating Raptors, has really paid off lately. Due to the bulk of clouds and high percentage of cloud cover, the Vultures have led us to many of the hawks we have recorded these first few days.
We started our day needing 575 Broad-wings to reach our 50,000 BW Grand Total for BW's counted from this site. Only one short of a 50 BW day, our count down is now at 526 BW's to go. This will be a RECORD SETTING YEAR!!! <(read more about it at this link.)
From Jimmy and Cynthia Wilkerson,
For the Soddy Daisy Hawk Watch Team
Happy Hawk Hunting &
KEEP LOOKING UP!
49 Broad-wings, one Kettle of 13
1 Sharpe Shinned Hawk
1 Cooper's Hawk
1 Osprey
1 Red-Shouldered
We waited on the complete over cast skies to open up, today, even though we might have had opportunities to see Accipiters earlier. Arriving a little after noon, we found Bill Holt had arrived before us, and already had counted 3 Broad-wings, just as the skies cleared a bit. That set a tone for the day.
Instead of finding the hawks in a dependable flight pattern, they were appearing any where a bit of blue sky could be seen, as holes in the clouds appeared and disappeared rapidly, in hundreds of segments of the sky. Thank goodness for an extra pair of eyes. I bet we missed a few birds because of the quickness of the flights of our raptors today. A 15mph NW wind drove them along, and helped them soar to remarkable heights. In the distant clouds, we watched them become "microscopic" as they soared in kettles that took them from blue sky up into grey clouds and out the top into the open, with bright white clouds in the back ground.
We watched one kettle of at least 13 birds go higher and higher until it had almost risen as high as the highest clouds, through several layers, before they ever peeled off to the south. They were less than specks, but too amazing to take our binocs off them. It took quite a while for them to rise that high, and were very difficult to see, even when they emerged from the clouds. At times, when they disappeared into the deep gray, we just patiently continued to scan the area at a higher and slightly southward place, where they would reappear, thermaling higher and higher, through layer after layer of clouds.
Why does that even mean anything to me as a hawk watcher? Well, we have questions like: "Do hawks fly on cloudy days?" Generally, we consider "socked in" days unproductive, because we can't see many Broad-wings. But I have now been there on days when-
1. conditions are right and hawks are on the move,
2. when the clouds were breaking up, and
3. we see the BW's appear suddenly from "nowhere",
-to now know, definitively.
>They DO fly if the clouds are somewhat low, or are broken and rapidly changing, with blue sky above. But they fly above the clouds, where we generally can't see them. To do so they must have an opportunity somewhere north of us to rise on the thermals to get to those heights. There must also be birds aggressively ready to move.
We don't always have the chance to actually watch that great feat occur except on days with unique weather like we had today. Sure we see them rise on thermals, but we generally see them rise to a certain height and peel off the top toward the West or SW from over or just off our ridge. But many of the Broadies we have seen the last few days were seeking the thermals that formed in spite of the clouds, over highways, and over the river. Way out over the valley. From that perspective we could see them mount up through layer after layer of clouds, until they were almost invisible.
The same thermal, seemingly, moves as if traveling along like a slow moving tornado, driven by the winds. In other words. Birds that we first see low in the funnel, will continue to rise, apparently, in the same funnel, but will continue to move in the direction the funnel of air is moving, and at that rate. We may first see them due east, but by the time they have reached the top, many hundreds of feet high, and 15 minutes later, they are miles south of the original location, but appear to be in the same funnel of rising air. This scenario, is different than the one we often see over the ridge, where even large numbers of hawks may move through, catching one thermal after another, rising on each, for a short distance and flying to the next. They do rise on single thermals to great heights over the ridge, but in general, the thermal remains relatively stationary, in comparison to what we saw today.
I can only assume that the Winds and the heat from previous day, were causing an extreme rising of air and moisture that was unique for this time of year. It was something that Bill Holt remarked upon as being odd for us on the watch. And we agree.
Jimmy wished that I also remark that we counted our first in each of the 4 species of Raptors that were not BW's today: Osprey, Sharp-shinned, Red-shouldered and Coopers Hawk. Although we saw others of the Accipiters and the RS that played and hunted like locals, these 4 birds flew from when we first spotted them like they were on a mission to get further south. They "acted" like migrating birds should.
One more note: Harold Birch's recommendation to never neglect scanning a kettle of Vultures for an opportunity to find other migrating Raptors, has really paid off lately. Due to the bulk of clouds and high percentage of cloud cover, the Vultures have led us to many of the hawks we have recorded these first few days.
We started our day needing 575 Broad-wings to reach our 50,000 BW Grand Total for BW's counted from this site. Only one short of a 50 BW day, our count down is now at 526 BW's to go. This will be a RECORD SETTING YEAR!!! <(read more about it at this link.)
From Jimmy and Cynthia Wilkerson,
For the Soddy Daisy Hawk Watch Team
Happy Hawk Hunting &
KEEP LOOKING UP!
Friday, September 12, 2014
Even Amid the Clouds
We had a nice day at the Hawk Watch today-
13 Broad Wings
2 Bald Eagles
1 Northern Harrier
were countable migrants. We had an additional Bald Eagle, 3 Coopers Hawks, 1 Sharp Shinned, several Red -Tailed, and Red-shouldered and an American Kestrel that were not. But the day was active all day once it cleared a bit, and before the heavy rains arrived.
Our non-raptor count included quite a few Blue Jays, a nice close view of a Pileated Woodpecker, and no less than 10 Hummers attacking Ken and Sue's feeders at the house near the lookout. Their deck was teaming with birds dive-bombing one another so fast, that we couldn't actually get a perfect count. They have 3 feeders close to one another, but hanging on 3 levels, and every hummer was attacking another. I actually never saw even one land on a feeder. So comical. And they were all there at once.
Some ask how we knew the one Bald Eagle was not the same as one adult we counted earlier. I explain that I can't always know, but sometimes we can. The first Adult and one Immature, which we counted as migrants early in the day, came from way out and continued for as far as we could see them. So we watched them carefully. The adult had full white head and tail, and the immature had neither. No brainer..they were different Eagles. But the 3rd Eagle which was actually flying north, and was therefore uncountable, was also different enough to know. 3rd and 4th year young adults often have a pinkish hue to their white tails. And a tinge of a band on the white that looks sort of creamy in color. Similar to some Red-tail immatures. This bird had that characteristic, and was definitely different that the other two we had seen earlier. It pays to watch for even the slightest characteristics sometimes on birds as obvious as Eagles, and others if possible. For instance, a missing feather, an odd coloration, or a special lightness or darkness that seems obvious. We actually get to know some of our "locals" this way. But in this case it helped us not decrease our migration count by 1 eagle.
We are now 13 more BW's closer to our 50,000 goal! Only need 575 more to reach it. We are on the countdown!!!!!
Keep looking up!
PS The Florida Keys Hawk Watch reports thousands of Night Hawks, which aren't actually hawks, but kin to the Night Jars - Whip-poor-wills and Chuck-wills-widows. Commonly known by some as "Bull Bats," which they also are not. Many city buildings put recordings on their roofs to discourage the nesting of Night Hawks on the gravel roofs. Not exactly sure if damage is done if they nest on roofs, but its sad that they can't be tolerated, because, like bats, they consume bugs drawn to the lights of the city. They do an enormous service to keep the bugs under control.
I also include this site, because I want to begin introducing other Hawk Watch spots to the blog. You might visit one some day.Florida Keys Hawk Watch on facebook
13 Broad Wings
2 Bald Eagles
1 Northern Harrier
were countable migrants. We had an additional Bald Eagle, 3 Coopers Hawks, 1 Sharp Shinned, several Red -Tailed, and Red-shouldered and an American Kestrel that were not. But the day was active all day once it cleared a bit, and before the heavy rains arrived.
Our non-raptor count included quite a few Blue Jays, a nice close view of a Pileated Woodpecker, and no less than 10 Hummers attacking Ken and Sue's feeders at the house near the lookout. Their deck was teaming with birds dive-bombing one another so fast, that we couldn't actually get a perfect count. They have 3 feeders close to one another, but hanging on 3 levels, and every hummer was attacking another. I actually never saw even one land on a feeder. So comical. And they were all there at once.
Some ask how we knew the one Bald Eagle was not the same as one adult we counted earlier. I explain that I can't always know, but sometimes we can. The first Adult and one Immature, which we counted as migrants early in the day, came from way out and continued for as far as we could see them. So we watched them carefully. The adult had full white head and tail, and the immature had neither. No brainer..they were different Eagles. But the 3rd Eagle which was actually flying north, and was therefore uncountable, was also different enough to know. 3rd and 4th year young adults often have a pinkish hue to their white tails. And a tinge of a band on the white that looks sort of creamy in color. Similar to some Red-tail immatures. This bird had that characteristic, and was definitely different that the other two we had seen earlier. It pays to watch for even the slightest characteristics sometimes on birds as obvious as Eagles, and others if possible. For instance, a missing feather, an odd coloration, or a special lightness or darkness that seems obvious. We actually get to know some of our "locals" this way. But in this case it helped us not decrease our migration count by 1 eagle.
We are now 13 more BW's closer to our 50,000 goal! Only need 575 more to reach it. We are on the countdown!!!!!
Keep looking up!
PS The Florida Keys Hawk Watch reports thousands of Night Hawks, which aren't actually hawks, but kin to the Night Jars - Whip-poor-wills and Chuck-wills-widows. Commonly known by some as "Bull Bats," which they also are not. Many city buildings put recordings on their roofs to discourage the nesting of Night Hawks on the gravel roofs. Not exactly sure if damage is done if they nest on roofs, but its sad that they can't be tolerated, because, like bats, they consume bugs drawn to the lights of the city. They do an enormous service to keep the bugs under control.
I also include this site, because I want to begin introducing other Hawk Watch spots to the blog. You might visit one some day.Florida Keys Hawk Watch on facebook
Thursday, September 11, 2014
Misjudged the Day, but Plenty to Do
Well, we misjudged the weather today, and thinking there would be thunder storms this afternoon, we decided not to go up for the 2 -3 hours in midday that we thought we would have. We took the opportunity to get some things done, and now regret not going up anyway. Which is what we plan to do tomorrow, rain or shine. We will judge the weather from there, rather than miss hawks.
If anyone did go up this afternoon, please let us know your numbers, and sooooo sorry we missed you. Barring an emergency we hope to see you again soon.
Keep looking up!
In case you haven't heard....
We are expecting a record setting year. This will be the year that the 50,000th Broad-wing will be counted from our site!
If anyone did go up this afternoon, please let us know your numbers, and sooooo sorry we missed you. Barring an emergency we hope to see you again soon.
Keep looking up!
In case you haven't heard....
We are expecting a record setting year. This will be the year that the 50,000th Broad-wing will be counted from our site!
Wednesday, September 10, 2014
Broadwings Dropping From Clouds
We were a little later than planned getting up to the watch today. But the cloud cover and SW winds were pushing even the Vultures northward. We arrived to find that Harold Birch had been there early to mow or weed-eat at the road and along the ridge, for which we GREATLY THANK HIM. We did all we could last night to prepare the place, but it was so overgrown that we couldn't do it all. He is such a blessing.
To the east of us, all along the river the sun was warming the valley for thermals, but over our ridge and west of us was just a steady wind pushing the clouds along, while the sun's rays tried to punch holes through the clouds throughout the morning. But there were no places where constant sun could warm the earth and provide singular thermals. Although we saw Turkey Vultures, Blacks, 2 Red-tailed and Red-shouldered Hawks, and 2 Sharp-shinned, there were no Broad-wings or other migrant raptors until the sun broke through after 2 pm.
We discussed that we didn't expect Broad-wings to confront the strong winds from the SW, but continued to look. I remembered how I thought about the sun warming the valley earlier in the day and noticed that the clouds were in long linear layers. I remembered how Debbie Shannon used to find afternoon, distant and high flying individual hawks zipping along skies like that in years past. So I began to concentrate on sorting out the rising Vultures, many of which were rising in kettles casually climbing hundreds of feet before peeling off North.
And then I spotted it. That tiny bullet that dropped from nowhere out of the clouds. We sometimes see this in the early afternoon. Broad-wings seem to drop from nowhere above us sometimes, and we have come to realize that they are dropping from heights where they fly during midday. This was the case with this little bullet. But not long after I followed it streaking along, it flared its wings, two, three, then four times, and I could tell it had hit a wall of that SW wind. It looked like putting on breaks, but it was the wind doing his breaking, and this hawk was forced to come out of that stoop, and open its wings, or fall from the sky. It flew into the first thermal it could find, and began that familiar upward circle. It occasionally disappeared behind gray hazy clouds, but I patiently waited for it to rise above them, and it paid off! Suddenly there were 4 more, then another, and arriving to the bottom of the kettle 3 and 3. There it was. Our first kettle of the season! 11 - every one peeled off the top and continued from the heights above the SW wind like a bullet on its journey. I followed them South and never saw them make a westward turn, but why would they abandon the only thermals forming.
All told, we had:
13 Broad-wings
20 other species
to record today.
Among the non-raptor species we counted today was a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher. A real treat.
We are prepared to go up tomorrow morning, but predicted storms may relieve us in the afternoon. But if it is densely clouded around 10 to 11, we will make a call on the day. Storms are predicted for Friday as well, so for now, we think it's a no go.
Keep looking UP.
Remember, we are now thirteen birds closer to our 50,000 grand total goal. Check out the link.
To the east of us, all along the river the sun was warming the valley for thermals, but over our ridge and west of us was just a steady wind pushing the clouds along, while the sun's rays tried to punch holes through the clouds throughout the morning. But there were no places where constant sun could warm the earth and provide singular thermals. Although we saw Turkey Vultures, Blacks, 2 Red-tailed and Red-shouldered Hawks, and 2 Sharp-shinned, there were no Broad-wings or other migrant raptors until the sun broke through after 2 pm.
We discussed that we didn't expect Broad-wings to confront the strong winds from the SW, but continued to look. I remembered how I thought about the sun warming the valley earlier in the day and noticed that the clouds were in long linear layers. I remembered how Debbie Shannon used to find afternoon, distant and high flying individual hawks zipping along skies like that in years past. So I began to concentrate on sorting out the rising Vultures, many of which were rising in kettles casually climbing hundreds of feet before peeling off North.
And then I spotted it. That tiny bullet that dropped from nowhere out of the clouds. We sometimes see this in the early afternoon. Broad-wings seem to drop from nowhere above us sometimes, and we have come to realize that they are dropping from heights where they fly during midday. This was the case with this little bullet. But not long after I followed it streaking along, it flared its wings, two, three, then four times, and I could tell it had hit a wall of that SW wind. It looked like putting on breaks, but it was the wind doing his breaking, and this hawk was forced to come out of that stoop, and open its wings, or fall from the sky. It flew into the first thermal it could find, and began that familiar upward circle. It occasionally disappeared behind gray hazy clouds, but I patiently waited for it to rise above them, and it paid off! Suddenly there were 4 more, then another, and arriving to the bottom of the kettle 3 and 3. There it was. Our first kettle of the season! 11 - every one peeled off the top and continued from the heights above the SW wind like a bullet on its journey. I followed them South and never saw them make a westward turn, but why would they abandon the only thermals forming.
All told, we had:
13 Broad-wings
20 other species
to record today.
Among the non-raptor species we counted today was a Blue-gray Gnatcatcher. A real treat.
We are prepared to go up tomorrow morning, but predicted storms may relieve us in the afternoon. But if it is densely clouded around 10 to 11, we will make a call on the day. Storms are predicted for Friday as well, so for now, we think it's a no go.
Keep looking UP.
Remember, we are now thirteen birds closer to our 50,000 grand total goal. Check out the link.
Getting Started
This will be the first day Jimmy and I spend time at the Hawk watch. First Day is also about getting set up to watch. After the rain we hope to see some early moving Broad-wings. Especially since we have seen small groups lately throughout the valley. 2s and 3s in the company of Accipiters and Red-Tails or Red-Shouldereds, mounting up to meet BW's, to rush them along out of their territory. But we may see none except locals...but it's a good time to get to know them.
We went up last evening and cut grass and established "steps" on the hillside. There remains a lot of new growth off the hillside that begin to obscure our view. It may in fact mean the end of our panoramic view in a year or two. But until then, we are determined to see migrating hawks while we can.
Hope to see you there this season!
Keep looking up.
REMEMBER: THIS IS OUR RECORD SETTING YEAR!
We went up last evening and cut grass and established "steps" on the hillside. There remains a lot of new growth off the hillside that begin to obscure our view. It may in fact mean the end of our panoramic view in a year or two. But until then, we are determined to see migrating hawks while we can.
Hope to see you there this season!
Keep looking up.
REMEMBER: THIS IS OUR RECORD SETTING YEAR!
Saturday, August 30, 2014
Expecting a Record Setting Year!
READY, SET, GO! ~BEGIN THE 2014 FALL HAWK-WATCHING SEASON~
Jimmy and I are very excited to invite you to the Hawk Watch site this year, because this will be the year we expect to cross a milestone in Tennessee hawk watching. We are only 601 birds away from reporting 50,000 sightings of Broad-winged Hawks since the Soddy Counts began!
Bill Haley , who, in May of 1993, first stepped onto the present Soddy count location atop Flat Top, dubbed it Soddy Mountain Hawk Watch for it's proximity to overlooking the Soddy-Daisy Townships where he grew up. Check out the history on our history page, in an article written by Bill, himself.
Jimmy was excited, when we were able to catch up the stats for the last several years, to be able to add up a grand total through last year's final reports. Discovering that we neared the 50,000 Broad-wing total was a pleasant surprise, and he has been sitting on the info for several months, about to burst to be able to reveal it.
He wants YOU to be with us when we count that significant 50,000th Broadie. We will begin manning the site on a regular basis September 10/11th, and will continue daily, as weather permits, to the end of the month. Of course, anyone is welcome to sit before or after the manned hours, and let us know what you see. Hawks and other raptors will be migrating through, even now as I write. And we might spend a few hours up there to see what's scooting by early, but it will be "if and when" we can scoot up there. And please remember, as Bill would like us to remind you, hawk watching doesn't begin or end with Broad-wing season. Many of the hawk watching regulars love to enjoy the slower pace and variety of hawks passing through in October and November as often as they can get to the site. We also see Bald Eagles, osprey, falcons, cormorants, migrating warblers, and songbirds, hummingbirds, butterflies, and many vultures....as well as other singular and nature related sightings. When we share it with good company, there is never a dull moment.
Allow me to remind our newly converted hawk-watching friends, and inform new and interested birders, that we don't man the sights on rain days. Also, be very aware of the weather! Many times, the best viewing days are due to hawks being "backed up" north of our location due to heavy rains.
Since hawks in general, sit out the rainy weather, they tend to be anxious to move following weather that rains all day over a broad front. It is, therefore, the day following those rains that we begin to see hawks in larger numbers. Sometimes, we must wait for them to fly from where the front last backed them up, to where we are; so it can be late in the day to early on the second morning before they begin to flow through our area. Yet some mornings, of that first day, begin with a steady stream almost immediately. We often see these masses of birds gathering into the thermals or streaming through by the dozens, and sometimes hundreds! These are of course the most exciting Broad-wing watch days.
But some days we sit all day and see less than a dozen, and they may be so high that we can't get an inexperienced hawk watcher on them. In fact we can't get each other on them. Identification of these birds is a learned skill, and can take a while sometimes. And for me, it's a skill that needs refreshing on the details from year to year. So don't expect to be "wowed' every time you come. There is a lot of sky, so we welcome those who have or desire to have hawk watching skills, to help us scan the large expanses of blue and white. It helps our counts to be as accurate as possible.
Come prepared, with binoculars, sunscreen, chairs, food and especially, water and appropriate clothing. And take into consideration, there are no facilities on the property. It takes some dedication and time. Jimmy and I are only able to commit the hours we do now, due to being retired. We fully understand the limitations others who respond may have. But some have seen hundreds in only an hour, while others have yet to have seen a kettle.
Our present total number of Broadies, for all the years of counting at this site, stands at (see the stats) 49,399 birds And just think, that doesn't include all the other species that have been counted there! That number already far exceeds 50,000 raptors counted over the years!
Hamilton County migration season is already underway, and we are declaring Hawk watching season officially open!
Start Looking UP!!!!
Jimmy and I are very excited to invite you to the Hawk Watch site this year, because this will be the year we expect to cross a milestone in Tennessee hawk watching. We are only 601 birds away from reporting 50,000 sightings of Broad-winged Hawks since the Soddy Counts began!
Bill Haley , who, in May of 1993, first stepped onto the present Soddy count location atop Flat Top, dubbed it Soddy Mountain Hawk Watch for it's proximity to overlooking the Soddy-Daisy Townships where he grew up. Check out the history on our history page, in an article written by Bill, himself.
Jimmy was excited, when we were able to catch up the stats for the last several years, to be able to add up a grand total through last year's final reports. Discovering that we neared the 50,000 Broad-wing total was a pleasant surprise, and he has been sitting on the info for several months, about to burst to be able to reveal it.
He wants YOU to be with us when we count that significant 50,000th Broadie. We will begin manning the site on a regular basis September 10/11th, and will continue daily, as weather permits, to the end of the month. Of course, anyone is welcome to sit before or after the manned hours, and let us know what you see. Hawks and other raptors will be migrating through, even now as I write. And we might spend a few hours up there to see what's scooting by early, but it will be "if and when" we can scoot up there. And please remember, as Bill would like us to remind you, hawk watching doesn't begin or end with Broad-wing season. Many of the hawk watching regulars love to enjoy the slower pace and variety of hawks passing through in October and November as often as they can get to the site. We also see Bald Eagles, osprey, falcons, cormorants, migrating warblers, and songbirds, hummingbirds, butterflies, and many vultures....as well as other singular and nature related sightings. When we share it with good company, there is never a dull moment.
Allow me to remind our newly converted hawk-watching friends, and inform new and interested birders, that we don't man the sights on rain days. Also, be very aware of the weather! Many times, the best viewing days are due to hawks being "backed up" north of our location due to heavy rains.
Since hawks in general, sit out the rainy weather, they tend to be anxious to move following weather that rains all day over a broad front. It is, therefore, the day following those rains that we begin to see hawks in larger numbers. Sometimes, we must wait for them to fly from where the front last backed them up, to where we are; so it can be late in the day to early on the second morning before they begin to flow through our area. Yet some mornings, of that first day, begin with a steady stream almost immediately. We often see these masses of birds gathering into the thermals or streaming through by the dozens, and sometimes hundreds! These are of course the most exciting Broad-wing watch days.
But some days we sit all day and see less than a dozen, and they may be so high that we can't get an inexperienced hawk watcher on them. In fact we can't get each other on them. Identification of these birds is a learned skill, and can take a while sometimes. And for me, it's a skill that needs refreshing on the details from year to year. So don't expect to be "wowed' every time you come. There is a lot of sky, so we welcome those who have or desire to have hawk watching skills, to help us scan the large expanses of blue and white. It helps our counts to be as accurate as possible.
Come prepared, with binoculars, sunscreen, chairs, food and especially, water and appropriate clothing. And take into consideration, there are no facilities on the property. It takes some dedication and time. Jimmy and I are only able to commit the hours we do now, due to being retired. We fully understand the limitations others who respond may have. But some have seen hundreds in only an hour, while others have yet to have seen a kettle.
Our present total number of Broadies, for all the years of counting at this site, stands at (see the stats) 49,399 birds And just think, that doesn't include all the other species that have been counted there! That number already far exceeds 50,000 raptors counted over the years!
Hamilton County migration season is already underway, and we are declaring Hawk watching season officially open!
Start Looking UP!!!!
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