Hello from The Hill!

September 15, 2000: Echoing one of the counters today .... "It was a grand day!"

Osprey 4
Miss kite 272
Sharp-shinned hawk 3
Cooper's hawk 2
Red-shouldered hawk 2
Broad-winged hawk 224
Swainson's hawk 4
Red-tailed hawk 2
Harris's hawk 1
American kestrel 33
Merlin 5
Peregrine falcon 6
Unid Accipiter 1
Unid Buteo 2
Unid Falcon 6
Unid Raptor 10

TOTALS 577

Well, now! This is more like it! Okay, folks, listen up, now ... today, broadies busted the one day record at Hawk Hill in Toronto with over 10,175 (congratulations!!). Cranberry Marsh (Ontario) got a gob through (over 5,000), almost busting their previous record (congrats, too!). Kevin Graff in Maryland racked up 1,200 in his back yard (way to go, Kevin! And I still want your back yard!). And our own Smith Point racked up over 3,700 broadies! Hawks are moving nicely along the flyways ...

So, check out those sharpies and peregrines and merlins at Hazel today. Howdy do! That'll do, for a start. That'll do. With a front due in to cool things off somewhat, we may get a nice little push this weekend. Lest I get too carried away with the first decent raptor numbers for many of the count sites ... let's also peruse the day's other local observations. Herp aficionados, take special note:

Jo C and Scott report groove-bill anis again; today, 7 along the brush, the fence and generally talking all around the watch most of the day. They're resident to the park and breed like the dickens when they've a mind to. There were 13 wood storks, 7 geese in formation or sorts, anhinga on three occasions equal to over 100 birds. There was a real and true kettle of great blue herons. Actually kettling up. Don't think I've seen that many great blues do that before; sorry I missed that one. Last on the "other" list was a coral snake, sneaking along the base of the fence line. Beautiful, and in full display of the classic "red and yellow - kill a fellow" marks (though most would rather quietly and quickly leave the scene than go after a fellow). Jo and Scott report the red even had a dark pattern within it.

In closing, Jo and Scott note the large number of falcons flying late or later in the day. They closed the watch at 7:15 PM. Until then, they say there were kestrels both overhead and west.
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Fall 2000 hawk watch crew: watch coordinator, Joel Simon (email: jsimon@electrotex.com); counters Jo Creglow, Scott Rush, Beth Hahn; and education director Thom Benedict. Plus a cast of many, many volunteers, whose help over the years is so gratefully appreciated!
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The Hazel Bazemore Hawk Watch appreciates the many volunteers and supporters that have helped bring the watch into the forefront of migration studies. Thanks to Electrotex, Inc. for sponsoring our web site; Hawk Watch International for their on-going support and sponsorship of the watch efforts. Also to the Northwest Business Association, Central Power and Light, Nature's Bird Center, Margaret Cullinan Wray Charitable Trust, the Trull Foundation, and the Audubon Outdoor Club of Corpus Christi.
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Hazel Bazemore County Park is in western Nueces County, Texas, west of the central Gulf Coast city of Corpus Christi. To find it, take FM624 west from SH77 for about 1 mile to the road on the right with a park sign marking it (past a Dollar Store and cancer treatment center, on the right). The park road is just on the west side of the water canal that crosses FM624. Across the street is a car wash. Turn north and take the park road; go one half mile to the park entrance gate. To reach the fall hawk watching spot, take the park entrance, make a left as soon as you get across the speed bump, and follow the winding road to the crest of the hill (past the restrooms, a covered picnic pavilion and around the next bend). Where the road makes a bend to the left, start looking for a place to park. Watch times: 8:30am-5:00pm, Texas time.
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Cheers from your roving hawk watch reporter,
Patty Beasley, Corpus Christi, TX
Email: pbeasley@electrotex.com
Web: http://www.electrotex.com/aoc/