Hazel Bazemore Hawk Watch, Fall 1998
Report Date: 09/26/98
Excerpt from yesterday's log: "John Economidy predicts a 50,000-bwha
kettle tomorrow!!" Ha! John, you were just being modest!
YES!!!! Not only did we get that kettle, but by golly, we got a few more!
Result: a NEW United States/Canadian record!!!
Yes, I'm gonna make you wait! None of this "pretty good day" stuff this
year, ha! I'm still too psyched up to play it down, and that trick only
works once anyway <grin!>. One hint: the previous single day record (set
last fall) was 302,294.
Holy moley Toledo Ohio mamma mia! They came, and they came, and they came,
and we counted, and we counted, and we're all so sky-blinded this evening
that I can barely see the computer screen, but by God, we counted them!!!
Pete Dunne (yes, that Pete Dunne, the internationally acclaimed author) and
Steve Hoffman (yes, that Steve Hoffman, founder and father and President of
Hawk Watch International) were on hand to help ring in the Celebration of
Flight. And thank goodness for all those other hundred pairs of eyes also
on hand. We needed every last living one of you. Kettles began as rivers
today, and just spread and spread and branched and mixed until we were hard
pressed to keep them all sorted out. Somehow, we did, and it was truly
wonderful to see veteran raptor biologist Steve Hoffman standing under a
river of hawks with his mouth open, shaking his head at the sight! NOW you
know what we've been trying to tell you, ha! Not that he didn't believe us,
after Fall 97's season, mind you, but anyone who's been on the hill the
last few years will tell you, you really have to see it to truly embrace
the scope of these massive amounts of birds speeding southward at once.
Steve later told me the only other comparable sight he'd ever seen for that
many broadwings at once was one year at Veracruz, where he'd had one day
with over 300,000 broadies. This sort of experience remains totally amazing
to us, and days like today really push home the fact of just how
significant our sweet little park truly is.
Pete Dunne, meanwhile, was all over the hill (when we'd let him bird
instead of signing books <grin!> .... you're a really good sport, Pete!)
and he was truly wonderful on catching a number of the kettles, and
especially, on spotting many of the peregrines we had today. See, Pete's
got this figured out: he says the broadwings have this system worked out
where they'll send a peregrine ahead to capture everyone's attention, and
then scoot on by in the other direction! Hey, you're laughing, but let me
tell you, it sounded darn good at the time, considering the heavy heavy
haze cover we had to cope with in a completely wind-free tropical humid
heat zone this morning! Those dudes just warped across the sky. Did get
some nice low-flying kettles and streams for close-up field mark stuff and
the experienced birders were all really wonderful in sharing their
knowledge .. thanks, guys! Nothing like a living laboratory, and boy, we
had one today.
But, you know what? Not one dark morph broadie in the bunch that we could
spot. We were pretty surprised; we all kinda figured we'd be getting some
of the Alberta express this year, what with the wierd things El Nino and La
Nina and who knows what other hoo-doo systems have wrought. No dark morphs
today, at least.
However, I am very pleased to report that the Great American Chocolate
Experiment is alive, well, and highly successful. We have the hyperglycemic
levels in our blood to prove it, too! Brands were varied, and we tried
different combos for different species, but find that Snickers are still
the favorites of the hawk watchers, and the hawks. Milky Way bites came in
a close second. Guess we're gonna have to get some corporate sponsorship
one of these seasons <grin!>.
A quick congratulations and welcome to David and Dorothy Scheiman, who
followed our fall 97 season via the internet while honeymooning at Cape
May. This year, they traveled to the hill to spend their first wedding
anniversary hawking with us. This is one marriage that will last; they've
got their priorities straight <grin!!>.(So, okay, maybe I'm a little
biased; just cause Bill and I spent OUR honeymoon birding (well, some of it
<grin!>), taking the whooping crane trip in freezing cold weather!). You
know you've found a good mate when they'll go birding with you, ha,
_especially_ on your honeymoon!!!
A few short notes: while we were literally nearly melting into little
chocolate puddles this morning, waiting for a liftoff ... ANY liftoff ...
to get our minds off the mosquitoes trying to drain our blood, a Cooper's
hawk decided to test the air along with a few broadies. One of the other
watchers, Bob Creglow (remember Bob? ... the only man at Hazel Bazemore to
ever survive a three-inch near-miss (only cause Bob ducked!) from a broadie
on the way in to roost one late afternoon last fall?) ... anyway, he and I
were chatting about the dozens and dozens of martins and swallows working
the air and making a little dent in the bugs. Bob wondered off-handedly
what would make a meal of a martin. We thought for a few seconds, then
shrugged it off. Bob came up to me 30 minutes later and said "hey, I found
out what likes martins!" I thought "oh-oh!" and asked the question. He then
informed me that early rising Cooper came up out of a nearby set of trees
on the golf course behind our watch, circled and cut a few quick
on-the-wing rolls and tucks, and snatched up one of those martins on the
wing and made off with it lickety-split across the golf course! Huh,
there's just no accounting for taste. Wish it'd had a taste for starling
instead.
One other notable sighting, the watch's first barn owl of the season. Came
up out of the trees along the east side of the park at 12:40 local time;
played a little hide and seek as one hundred of us came up out of our
chairs and running across the hill at the shout, then casually coasted
along the ridgeline as if nothing were amiss and all was right with its
world! We had one great-horned owl earlier this season, so that makes two
owls for the fall watch. Truly a remarkable season again this year.
Okay, okay, you've all been good (yeah, right, I KNOW you've already
scrolled down, ha!). Here's the numbers. We might even pass up this total
tomorrow! Thanks for staying up so late to wait; and a thousand thanks to
all you sweet folks who have taken time to say via email and in person on
the hill how much they enjoy these posts. It's such a thrill getting to
meet those of you who made the effort to come down to the hill! We all
truly enjoy being able to share what we see, so next season, YOU can come
over and visit and help us count!
One more final note; kudos and sincere and great thanks to Greg, our
education intern from Hawk Watch International; great job on those displays
you worked so hard to put together with Joel Simon!
See you tomorrow; gotta post these numbers and get them logged in to Hawks
Aloft, too! (Check out their daily map updates at:
http://birdsource.tc.cornell.edu/bwha/)
Species Today (Season-to-date)
Black Vultures 14 (38)
Turkey Vultures 0 (3)
Osprey 7 (58)
Swallow-tailed Kite 0 (6)
Mississippi Kite 8 (3541)
No. Harrier 4 (53)
Sharp-shinned Hawk 80 (247)
Cooper's Hawk 7 (45)
Harris's Hawk 0 (2)
Red-shouldered Hawk 1 (30)
Broad-winged Hawk 306766 (423316)
Swainson's Hawk 2 (187)
White-tailed Hawk 0 (3)
Red-tailed Hawk 7 (55)
Am. Kestrel 34 (113)
Merlin 1 (16)
Peregrine Falcon 19 (64)
Prairie Falcon 0 (1)
Unidentified Accip 18 (82)
Unidentified Buteo 4 (15)
Unidentified Falcon 0 (13)
Unidentified Raptor 3 (105)
Today's total: 306975 (427993)
Glenn's day bird list:
You've got to be kidding! Actually, a few were the resident groove-billed
ani that was a lifer for several visitors. Also brown-crested flycatcher,
blue-grey gnatcatcher, roseate spoonbill, barn owl (see above),
white-tailed kite resident, common ground dove, great kiskadee (another
lifer for many), mmmm; can't remember any others at the moment.
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Submitted by:
Patty Waits Beasley
Corpus Christi, TX
E-Mail: pbeasley@electrotex.com
Webmaster: Audubon Outdoor Club of Corpus Christi
Editor: HMANA Gulf Coast Continental Flyway
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http://www.electrotex.com/aoc/
Home for the following web pages:
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Hawk Watch Site: Hazel Bazemore County Park
Location: Corpus Christi, Nueces County, TX
GPS: Lat. 27° 51.936" and Long. 97° 38.560"
Time: 9:00 am to 5:00 pm CST, Aug 15-Nov 15
Counters:
Joel Simon, E-Mail: jsimon@electrotex.com
Glenn Swartz, E-Mail: glennswartz@worldnet.att.net
Fall 1998 Sponsors and Supporters:
Hawk Watch International
Central Power & Light Company
Electrotex, Inc.
Audubon Outdoor Club of Corpus Christi
Hazel Bazemore County Park
Hawk Migration Association of North America
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