Rpt Date:   September 28, 1997
Site:       Hazel Bazemore County Park
            Corpus Christi, Nueces County, TX
            27 deg. 51.936"
            97 deg. 38.560"
Reports:    Patty Beasley (pbeasley@electrotex.com)
Counter:    Joel Simon & Glenn Swartz (Hawk Watch Int'l)
            (site manned 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Aug 15-Nov 15)
Sponsors:   Hawk Watch International
Support:    Hawk Migration Association of North America
            Audubon Outdoor Club of Corpus Christi

Species            9/28      Season
Black vulture       0        51
Turkey vulture      0        1
Osprey              7        48
Swallow-tail kite   0        7
White-tail kite     0        1
Miss. kite          1        2,784
Northern harrier    4        19
Sharp-shin hawk     27       133
Cooper's hawk       23       150
Harris' hawk        0        2
Red-shoulder hawk   3        25
Broadwing hawk      167,100  457,157  (NOTE: 4 dark morphs for 9/28)
Swainson's hawk     6        157
White-tail hawk     0        2
Red-tail hawk       0        12
Rough-legged hawk   0        2
Amer. kestrel       8        75
Merlin              2        9
Peregrine falcon    3        21
Prairie falcon      0        1
Unk accipiter       23       102
Unk. buteo          0        13
Unk. falcon         0        6
Unk. raptor         2        91
Total:              167,209  460,869

NOTES:

Another pretty good day today.

Okay, okay, I can't stand it! I CAN'T just leave it at that! (All right you guys on watch, I promised to be really good for yesterday's report! And, I was. I said just what you told me to say! But after today's counts, I've GOTTA "bring folks up on the hill" to experience it with us!)

We tried. We really, REALLY tried, to break yesterday's record. Still can't believe just how close we came! Winds were negligible, but all over the compass. Started from the north, then switched from the south, then from the east by midafternoon. Clouds were non-existent; couldn't buy one with a million bucks. Skies were clear, clear, clear blue. High haze blanketed everything at upper altitudes. Temps were moderate - cool in morning, up to 32C in afternoon (yeah, well, that's moderate for down here). There were an average of 20 folks on hand every hour today, up to 58 at one point, to watch the broadies sail over (had over a hundred on hand at one time yesterday). And when all the dust settled at the end of the day, it turned out to be another record-breaker; best second-peak-day numbers ever .. even, I'm told, over that phenomenal picket-line day in the 70's (which wouldn't count anyway, since it WAS a picket line and not a site-count).

Side note to the scholars and note-keepers; we did have a few more dark morph broadwings today; four to be exact. More of those Alberta birds, we're told. Good indications of western flyway migrationals making it to us. What does it all mean in the end? We'll have to wait for the final analyses from Hawk Watch International and Hawk Migration Association of North America's count reports.

Language metaphors don't even come close to begin to describe what we experienced these last two days. And those of you who know me know I am seldom at a loss for words -- <grin!>. We were all blown away by yesterday. We were all trying to second-guess what kind of follow-up day we'd have today. NONE of us expected this. We worked for it; believe it. Raptors were high and fast and backdropped against that clear, blue sky with high cirrus haze; would disappear in half a second, right in front of your eyes.

With another front on the way down to us, we're really not sure what to expect on Monday, either, before it hits Monday night or Tuesday (IF it even reaches us). But, we have enough chocolate on hand to get us through! (After yesterday's phenomenal count that left all of us wrung out worse than grandma's wash rags, during which we consumed mass quantities of everything in sight containing chocolate --- donations started coming in! We now have enough chocolate to feed a small third-world country (which our hawk watch site might well have qualified for during this weekend!) ... You don't think chocolate is the secret weapon? The numbers speak for themselves! <grin!> However, I think it's safe to say that NONE of us will be eating sweets and candy for the next three months, after this marathon! What about Halloween, you say? <shudder!> No, thanks.

Wonder just how many more remain. Maybe I shouldn't say anything; towards the last hours today, instead of the "OH BOY, a kettle!!" cries that we've all sounded during the watch, by late today one could hear cries of "OH NO! Not ANOTHER kettle!" Definitely don't mean that to sound condescending, but we're all down to about three nerves apiece after today. You better believe we will all treasure for the rest of our lives the experience that frayed us to shreds this weekend. 'Cause equally as exciting as spotting up and counting all those raptors this weekend was the chance to observe folks who'd never seen anything like it before in their lives, coming in from all over the United States and other countries, experiencing super-kettles and mega-kettles for the first time! (That group of mega-kettle inductees included one of our official counters, who, even with his many years of birding experience and nearly 700 birds on his life list, wandered the site yesterday after the mega-kettle of 76,000 broadwings, saying over and over, "I've NEVER seen anything like that!" Even those of us who have, see it anew each time.)

Hazel Bazemore really gives us a snapshot of what the folks in Veracruz must feel like, seeing the MILLIONS of birds that come overhead down there! Speaking of, anyone down in Veracruz or headed there; email the newsgroups with reports; we all want to know what the numbers will be like down south when "our" U.S. and Canada birds get there.

We're a bunch of pooped little puppies. Good night, sweet dreams, and good hawking.  See you all tomorrow.

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