Totals for 09 September 1998/  Season Totals

Turkey Vulture   0/  4
Black Vulture   0/  2
Osprey   0/  6
Swallow-tailed Kite   0/  50
White-tailed Kite   0/  18
Mississippi Kite   56/  1302
Northern Harrier   1/  24
Sharp-shinned Hawk   1/  7
Cooper's Hawk   3/  28
Unid. Accipiter   0/  1
Red-shouldered Hawk   1/  23
Broad-winged Hawk   57/  1359
Swainson's Hawk   0/  7
Red-tailed Hawk   0/  1
Unid. Buteo   0/  15
American Kestrel   1/  50
Merlin   0/  2
Peregrine Falcon   0/  4
Unid. Falcon   0/  1
Crested Caracara   0/  1
Unid. Raptor   0/  13
--------------------------------------------
GRAND TOTALS   120/  2918
 
 

One small kettle each of Mississippi Kites and Broad-wings, and a fair
number of birds just milling about.  Only the Harrier went across the
water without fooling around first.  The NE winds were so strong
--gusting to 30 or more-- that you had to wonder why they didn't just
flapon across the bay with that speedy tailwind.  Seemed to waste lots of
energy soaring around (with a fair amount of flapping, too) and then
gliding back into the wind.  Even high birds behaved this way.  Fear of
crossing water seems to be the dominant factor at this site--maybe a
strong tailwind triggers a fear of being blown out to sea, even if the
direction seems very favorable.
 

A ferocious squall line came through right after the day's watch ended.
                                                         Steve
 

Rebecca Smith & Steve Seibel, Smith Point Hawk Watchers for the
Gulf Coast Bird Observatory http://www.nol.net/~criley
SPHW is sponsored by GCBO, Ornithology Group-ONC, TPWD, HawkWatch Int'l.,
and the Exxon Baytown
Use of computer provided by Tx PIF, TPWD, and Compaq Computer Corp