Hazel Bazemore Hawk Watch

Corpus Christi, Texas (Nueces County)

All reports are posted daily to the following newsgroups: 
BirdHawk, TexBirds, BirdChat, TexasBirdChat
   

So, just how do we count all those hawks!?
 

November 1, 2002:

Paul's report says it all today!: 

"Well, today threatened rain but couldn't do anything but bluster. The birds enjoyed it, though. Kirsten and I arrived at 8:30, and barely managed to get the car doors closed before we began counting Turkey Vultures and accipiters. Things continued fast until 11, but didn't really die down until 2. We ended up with 2103, mostly Vultures, but with good numbers of accips and buteos. The bluster and cloud cover did produce some interesting things, though. All of our birds were fairly low, many of them spectacularly so, and perhaps half of our Turkey Vultures took a flight line we haven't seen before. They came into the Northwest, stalled and circled, then passed right down the road, very low right in front of us. Jimmy solved some of the mystery when he pointed out that the NE winds for the day, blowing pretty hard, caused a bit of an uplift off of the ridge that the site is situated on. Regardless, it was an impressive sight to see a thousand vultures going by nearly close enough to touch. But, the real excitement came about 9:30, when Kirsten told me to get on a bird directly overhead. It turned out to be an accipiter with the wings of a Sharpie, but as big as a Red-shoulder. We watched it circle and make some slow flaps, fanning it's tail occasionally, for several minutes as it drifted south with some vultures. It appeared to have approximately half the wingspan of the vultures, perhaps a bit more, instead of being dwarfed by them as Sharpies and even Coops usually are. A big bulge in the secondaries and the slow even flapping motion convinced us that it wasn't a Cooper's, but indeed a Northern Goshawk. Clear banding in the tail indicates that it was an immature, although that was about the only plumage feature we could see."

Editor's Note: That brings our species count for the season up to 26.  

Count for 11/01:
Black Vulture: 4
Turkey Vulture: 1795
Osprey: 1
Harrier: 4
Sharp-shin: 73
Cooper's: 47
Northern Goshawk: 1 immature
Red-shoulder: 1
Broad-wing: 142 (we're not done yet, I guess)
Swainson's: 7
Red-tail: 11
Kestrel: 4
unid. Acc. 3
unid. Buteo: 3
unid. Falcon: 2
Unid. Raptor: 5 (3 while we were watching the Goshawk)

Day Total: 2103

Paul's Dickey Bird Report: "About 50 Anhinga, lots of Pelicans, and perhaps 20 Sandhill Cranes. We had lots of Franklin's Gulls again, and lots of White-fronted and Snow Geese. We also had a female Common Goldeneye, a possible female Bufflehead, some Gadwall, and about 500 unid. ducks flying east at the very end of the day. A Chipping Sparrow tried to masquerade as a Clay-colored, but unfortunately it's costume wasn't quite good enough."

November 02, 2002:

Report's in, nothing to report, unfortunately. Rained out today.

November 03, 2002:

Coast was rained out, but the watch managed four hours on the hill before getting fogged out, of all things. Kirsten reports 3 sharpies and 1 turkey vulture for their valiant efforts. 

November 04, 2002:

Another rainout day ... no hits, no runs, no errors. 

You know when you get the full day's report while only half the day's gone, what the report for that day will be, right? Yep ... it's raining today. Again. Still. Whatever. It's been raining steadily since 9pm last night. Five more inches in my house rain gauge for the past 24 hours. Anyone seeing those blueprints for the ark, please email a copy to me. I think we might need them if we don't get a break soon!

November 05, 2002:

Strange appearance to the sky today. Really weird stuff. Real bright; colors even. Oh, wait ... it wasn't raining AND the sun was out! That's what it was! In tonight's report, Paul says the counters enjoyed getting reacquainted with a sunny, clear, temperate day, too: "I had almost forgotten what those dark patches on the ground were -- they haven't been visible too much recently. Obviously, we had sunny skies for much of the day. We also had a good number of Turkey Vultures, and a bit of a set down to the north at 4:30. With luck, tomorrow morning should be good as well."

Count for 11/05:
Black Vulture: 9
Turkey Vulture: 1752
Osprey: 2
White-tailed Kite: 1
Northern Harrier: 1
Sharpie: 30
Cooper's: 10
Red-shoulder: 1
Broad-wing: 11
Red-tail: 3
Harris': 1
Kestrel: 8
Unid. Acc. 1
Unid. Raptor: 7

Day Total: 1837

Paul notes a lot of the birds were well off to the west, with only a few coming overhead, mostly in the morning. 

Paul's Dickey Bird Report: "We had perhaps 30 Anhinga through the day, mostly in ones and twos. Perhaps 50 White Pelicans, and about 20 Sandhill Cranes, although we suspect that the same 5 may have been flying back and forth much of the day. There were a few geese, both White-fronts and Snows, and several large flocks of ducks well to the north later in the day. We did have some Gadwall come over, and some coots on Lake Hazel. But the big story was the thousand plus (Not really sure, they came in streams, throughout the day, almost uncountable) Franklin's Gulls. It would have been a full time job to get a count, or even much of an estimate, and since our slowest full hour for vultures was 144, we didn't really have the time. There were several warblers still around, including a Pine down in the playground, and a female Summer Tanager."

November 6, 2002:

Report in; reporter out to lunch! Sorry for the delay; here's the quick-n-dirty rundown; thanks, Paul!

Count for 11/6:
16  black vulture
985 turkey vulture
23  northern harrier
44  sharp-shinned
15  Cooper's
3   red-shouldered
32  broadies
11  red-tailed
1   Harris's
5   kestrel
1   merlin
1   unid accip
1   unid buteo
3   unid raptor

Day total: 1141

November 7, 2002:

Catchup; here's Thursday's numbers for another gorgeous day in the coastal bend. Getting used to having sunshine around again. Could do without the mosquitoes on steroids, though. Kirsten brings us today's report:

Count for 11/7:
3   black vulture
400 turkey vulture
15  northern harrier
28  sharpies
12  Cooper's
1   broadwinged
2   Swainson's
13  red-tailed
1   kestrel
1   peregrine
2   caracara  
1   unid accip
1   unid raptor

Day total: 480

Kirsten also reports 293 sandhill cranes passing overhead, and a really nice pelican day, with 1,500 white pelicans making the count.  

November 8, 2002: 

Paul's not sure what to make of the weather now! (Who is?) Here's his take on the day:

"I've decided that beautiful weather just isn't too good for hawks, at least not for more than a couple of days. Today was gorgeous. We even had some high, fanciful cirrus clouds for much of the morning, but the hawks we did have we had to work pretty hard for, especially with a lot of the vultures way off to the west. There was an interesting flight late in the day, and what looked like a set-down of 75-100 Vultures in the west."

Count for 11/8:
Black Vulture: 10
Turkey Vulture: 448
Sharp-shin: 7
Cooper's: 1
Red-tail: 1
Swainson's: 1
Am. Kestrel: 2

Total: 470

Paul's Dickey Bird Report: "Today there wasn't much flying. We had a few Sandhills, mostly in one group first thing in the morning, and a few nice lines of Pelicans. Only a bare handful of Anhingas, and a few lines of Geese, Snows and White-fronts. Oh, I don't think we mentioned it a couple of days ago, but we had 4 Ross's Geese overhead on the 6th. Other birds the last three days included Robins, Vermilion Flycatcher, Blue-headed Vireo, and Pine Warbler, which was seen right overhead this afternoon. I imagine that he, at least, might spend the winter." 
         
Editor's additional dickey bird off-site report: not even birds, actually. Just wanted to note for the monarch watchers that I've been seeing staging on Mustang Island back in their favorite trees at the Lost Colony (housing tract about midway up the island). Check out the palms and the Norfolk pines towards the back of the tract. Yesterday there were about a thousand throughout the area, spread amongst the trees. About that many on the roadway, too ... poor things are getting hit by cars (or hitting cars) right and left.

November 9, 2002:

Joel brings us today's report: "The weather was great, but the mosquitoes were out in force. Strong south winds made the vultures progress seem to be in sloooooow motion. We would find small kettles out front and maybe 30 minutes later they would finally pass by. The best dickey bird of the day was a single Cedar Waxwing sitting on the wire just in front of the watch.
Black Vulture 102, Turkey Vulture 345, Sharp-shinned 2, Cooper's 1, Red-shouldered 1, Swainson's 2, Red-tailed 3, and Unidentified Accipiter 1. Total 457."

November 10, 2002:

Today's report is from Kirsten: 

Count for 11/10:
29 black vultures
187 turkey vultures
1 sharp-shinned hawk 
5 cooper's hawks
1 broad-wing (an immature) 
1 red-tail
1 peregrine

Day total: 225 raptors. 

Only a couple days left! The birds are definitely going to be coming after the 15th. The watch is slow, but Kirsten notes it doesn't seem like end-of-season slow. 

November 11, 2002:

Paul signs in with today's report: "We had a classic front blow through this morning, with a line of clouds and fog that rolled in around 7:30 and out again by starting time, but the temps didn't stay down. Not as warm as yesterday, so I guess it qualifies, but... in any case, we did have north winds, somewhat cooler temps, and interesting clouds for at least part of the day. However, it is the end of the season, apparently."

Count for 11/11:
Black Vulture: 65 (including a kettle of 42 late in the day)
Turkey Vulture: 402
Harrier: 2
Sharpie: 17
Cooper's: 6
Red-shoulder: 3
Broad-wing: 1 imm.
Swainson's: 1
Red-tail: 8
Kestrel: 9
Merlin: 1
Peregrine: 1
Caracara: 1
Unid. Buteo: 1

Day total: 518

Paul's Dickey Bird Report: "Lots of geese, today, mostly White-fronts with some Snows mixed in. No Ross' close enough to tell. Perhaps 500 Sandhill Cranes, coming through in larger groups than before. No whoopers, though. 
Only a few small lines of Pelicans, and only a very few Anhingas. Even the Franklin's Gulls didn't come through, or at least didn't come close enough to say for sure. The Laughing Gulls were quite apparent today, though. The most interesting passerines were the 15 or so Eastern Bluebirds that flew over, right after Vicki put her new scope on 4 of them on the wires. We also heard what I'm thinking might be a Golden-crowned Kinglet. If I were back home, I wouldn't hesitate to call it one, but down here, I think I'd like to see it first. I've actually heard it two or three different days, so maybe it'll show up."

UPDATE: two sharpies slipped through the paperwork between Paul and I; so that brings the sharpie count to 19 for the day, and the overall count to 520.  

November 12, 2002:

Three more days left! Kirsten notes it doesn't seem like it's really nearing end of watch in terms of numbers: "Again, we are winding down but the birds just aren't. 474 today. 434 turkey vultures, 7 black vultures, 1 harrier, 13 sharpies, 5 coops, 11 red-tails, 2 unidentified buteos, and 1 unidentified raptor. We also had at least 100 turkey vultures set down to the west, we will count them when they get up in the morning. still looking hard for the red-shouldered, but no luck yet." 

(Editor's note: a Texas red-shouldered hawk (subspecies texana) is the watch "mascot" if you will. Tex, as we've nicknamed the hawk, helps the counters spot up incoming hawks as it vigorously defends its territory over the watch site. Hearing the red-shouldered scream means get your eyes up; hawks are coming! Many times we've enjoyed the sight of Tex rising up out of the brush to "escort" passing hawks over our heads and out of the territory.)

November 13, 2002:

Ahh, man, I'm gonna miss doing these reports once watch ends! Paul and Kirsten are among some of the best counters we've had on the hill through HWI, and both have wicked senses of humor to boot. An absolute necessity under watch conditions, as many of you well know. But they also keep cool under pressure when those oddball rarities come flying through, or even landing, as happened today. Check out Paul's first person report:

"Now on to today's report. We had a white-morph Gyrfalcon at the site today! Also, a Bald Eagle, a Golden Eagle, two Peregrine Falcons, and two Prairie Falcons. But the real interesting birds were the two owls -- an Eagle Owl from England and a Spectacled Owl from South America. I suppose you've guessed by now that something unusual was going on. Jonathan Wood was up from the Harlingen Festival with his traveling Raptor show, on his way to Houston for the stock expo, and decided to stop at the watch to give the birds a meal and a chance to sun. And give an impromptu show, of course. We'd like to extend our thanks for sharing those magnificent birds."

(Editor's note: and the editor would like to thank Paul for trying to pull the hood over my eyes with that report! You really don't want to know how many times I yelled "what?!" and ... um ... a creative metaphor or two, while reading the first two lines of his report! Good one, Paul!)

Okay, we'll let Paul take us onward, now that our pulse rates are back to normal <grin!>:  "Now on to the migrants. We had blue skies all day long, and a decent NE wind. The set-down from last night popped right back up, and was about twice as large as we expected. We also had a September sight -- a small kettle with a Swainson's and two Broad-winged Hawks!"

Count for 11/13:
Black Vulture: 33
Turkey Vulture: 364
Harrier: 2
Sharp-shin: 10
Cooper's: 4
Broad-wing: 2
Swainson's: 3
Red-tail: 5
Unid. Acc. 1
Unid. Buteo: 1
Unid. Raptor: 1

Day total: 426

Paul's Dickey Bird Report: "We had numerous geese and Sandhills in the sky today, although not all of them were heading south. We also had a group of Lesser Scaup go over. A few Anhingas, including one which has taken up residence on Lake Hazel for the moment. And only a bare handful of Pelicans. We didn't have that much for passerines, either, after a flurry yesterday (E. Bluebird, Pine Warbler, Robin, E. Meadowlark, male Vermilion Flycatcher, Golden-crowned Kinglet)."

November 14, 2002:

Wow, I can't believe we're actually nearing the end of watch! Joel and the crew are ready, though, I think. They've all worked their hearts out for the past 90-some days (though they did dodge the 114-degree day bullet this season!). Here's Joel's report with only one more day to go: 

"The watch is really starting to wind down, the people more than the birds. Today was Kirsten's last day marked by an all-day pig out provided by Bob and Jo Creglow. Apparently chips & dip, cheeses, and other assorted snacks attract only vultures! For so late in the season we had a good day with 34 Black Vultures, 387 Turkey Vultures, and only one non-vulture, a single Red-tailed Hawk." (day total: 422)

(Editor's note:  I note he didn't mention chocolate on the menu. Perchance why so few hawks? <grin!>)

November 15, 2002:

Wow, that feels weird to write (type) the date. Because the date means today's the final day of the fall season watch. Although my fingers and my head know it's over for the fall, my heart doesn't quite want to let go just yet. We're all torn between wanting to do cartwheels, and wanting to hug each other and get a bit maudlin over soupy Snickers and tepid water. Can't even do that today, as we finally got another breath of cool air coming in. I want to publicly say thank you to the wonderful staff of the watch. Joel, Vicki, Paul and Kirsten, you did an outstanding job. To all the volunteers, both local and non-local, hugs to all of you as well! The watch just would not have made it without the support of the many friends, sponsors and visitors that blessed us with their help and friendship. And the very welcome company on those many days where nothing flew but war stories and dust. 

Heck, I'll even offer up a thank-you to the thousands of vultures that made the last month of the watch an activity that kept the counters on their toes right to the end! (gotta find that one last zone-tailed!) I think I'm safe in saying we've probably got a couple new vulture records for the fall count. Poor guys; vultures always get underrated, don't they? Well, let's give them their due today. The second highest count in the six-season history of Hawk Watch International's entry to the watch was in 2000, when 36,688 turkey vultures made the count. For Fall 2002, we tallied up a total of 42,533 turkey vultures. AND, 470 black vultures (another record). Wow, that's a lot of vultures!

Okay, onward to the day's final count. Happily, Joel says the traffic was good overhead, thanks in part to ... you guessed it! Our dependable vulture contingent! Here's Joel's wrap up report from Mockingbird Hill at Hazel Bazemore:

"Today marks the end of our sixth full season of hawk watching at Hazel Bazemore Park. It has surely been an unusual weather season, with much cooler average temps and more rain than we could handle at times. The last two weeks have been much better than in previous years and we ended with a good day. Thanks to all the volunteers and the many visitors who make this watch a pleasurable and rewarding experience for all us counters. 

   - Kirsten McDonnell, Paul Sweet, & Joel and Vicki Simon"  

Count for 11/15:
84 Black Vultures
394 Turkey Vultures
1 Osprey
7 Sharpies
6 Coops
1 Red-shouldered
2 Broad-wings (really only 1 3/4 as one individual was missing lots of flight and tail feathers)
5 Red-tails
1 unidentified falcon

Day total: 501 

And that's a wrap, folks! Our sincerest appreciation to everyone who made this watch another memorable and precious season. Godspeed, Paul and Kirsten, and keep in touch ... 

   - Patty Waits and Bill Beasley