October 26, 1999
Hello everyone, a nice report for you this evening. At 9:25 today I
was
relaxing on the tower, getting mentally prepared for a long day full
of
fruitless scanning. Up to that point I'd seen zero hawks, with no
indication of activity. I turned to look out over the bay to see if
the
pelicans were doing anything and there was a hawk flapping in from
the
east. For a second I thought it was a harrier, they often take an
approach south of the tower just over the water like that and this
bird
was long-winged and flapping. However, I quickly realized by its size
and
shape that it was a buteo. Grabbing my binos I uttered a few words of
confusion as I picked out fields marks until suddenly it hit me. This
was
a rough-legged hawk. The wrist patches and the dark, thick band
across
the belly were unmistakable. Whitish mottled head, brownish appearing
grayish above, very light underneath, with a dark trailing edge to
the
wing and wingtips, a juvenile bird. (NOTE: this definitely was not
the
unidentified hawk seen last week). It flew by at eye level and the
only
thing I did not see well was the tail which was folded in. It never
stopped flapping (a light, easy stroke), did not soar, and flew
directly
to the very tip of Smith Point. It then performed a very
un-buteo-like
behavior and started to cross the bay. This last action was amazing
to
watch. After seeing so many of the more thermal-dependent buteos turn
back to go around the water it was nice to see one go across without
hesitation. After that, the rest of the day was not difficult at all.
Today's count:
8 Black Vulture
17 Turkey Vulture
7 Northern Harrier
11 Sharp-shinned Hawk
11 Cooper's Hawk
2 Red-shouldered Hawk
9 Broad-winged Hawk
1 Swainson's Hawk
13 Red-tailed Hawk
1 Rough-legged Hawk
2 American Kestrel
2 Unid. accipiter
1 Unid. buteo
85 Total Hawks
Until tomorrow,
Kyle McCarty
Official counter
Smith Point Hawk Watch is made possible by donations from Exxon,
Hawkwatch International, Houston O.G., Gulf Coast Bird Observatory,
and
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.
Computer donated by Texas Partners in Flight and Compaq. Thank you
all.
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