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Greetings from the hill! We're baaa-aaack!
Are you ready for some hawk-watching? We're hitting the ground at full
run this fall, so hang on. It's going to be one heck of a ride!! August 15, 2004:
Hazel Bazemore hawk watchers came home
with the gold tonight in a clean sweep of opening day observations!
Okay, so maybe I'm watching too much Olympics coverage (is there such a
thing?) ... nahhh! Truth is, we had a blast on the hill for our fall
2004 season opener, and we can't wait to tell you all about it! We
kicked off the count this morning with our traditional Mississippi kite
early migrant -- first blood, so to speak. Just as we settled in for
what we thought would be the usual fare of a few Mississippis (if we
were lucky), another sighting got everyone up out of their seats. The
next three passing kites turned out to be not Mississippis, but three
swallow-tailed kites! Wow! Talk about snapping the old eyeballs
back into shape! Wonder if there's an Olympic event for hawk watching
this year? (Hey, don't laugh. If they can make poker an event ... hawk
watching oughta be a shoo-in!)
So, now we really think we're getting
spoiled. And we were, right up until the next round of swallow-tailed
kites came through! Two more of those guys belted on through and made
everyone shoot up from their seats again. Aerobics workouts? Yeah!
that's what I'm talking about! Not to be outdone, we racked up 40 more
Mississippis by watch end.
Interestingly enough, records from last
fall show we got five swallow-tailed kites on the second day of the
season! Hmmmmm .... are these the same dudes enjoying a commuter route?
I wonder ....
I should also mention, just for the
record, yes, you bet, we did have chocolate on the hill ... and yes, the
kites started piling on top of us as we passed out the chocolate!
Dickie birds proved migration is indeed
in progress, between orioles, kingbirds, martins, and wood storks among
others and the sighting of two of our resident Tex's (red-shouldered
hawk mascots of the park and our watch). If we thought we needed more
proof, the anhingas laid fears to rest ... we racked up some really nice
numbers, including a couple big kettles of anhingas -- more than 800
total for the day! Wow! We usually don't see those kinds of numbers
until a few weeks into watch; usually into September. The local
white-tailed hawk pair just fledged a healthy young one this season,
right in time for the watch opener. We were treated to its flights
throughout the day as it learned to maneuver its wings in the air
currents. Joel says this is the seventh successful hatch season of the
eight seasons the pair has nested in the park.
Joining Joel on the hill are two
excellent counters. You'll recognize one name; Dane Ferrell from Smith
Point last fall decided Texas hawk watching was so much fun, he signed
up to do another Texas season and will be on the hill with us this fall!
Welcome, Dane! Welcome also to Scott Loss of Waukesha, Wisconsin. Both
counters got to stretch their clicking fingers a little today; a nice
warm up to the wonders yet to come later this fall.
Here's the total for today's sightings:
Swallow-tailed Kites 5
Mississippi Kites 41
Swainson's Hawk 4
White-tailed hawk 1 (sub-adult)
Total 51
One other note for the record: Joel and
Vicki Simon report 123 Mississippi kites passed through the watch site
on August 12th, sighted by them on a pre-watch scouting trip. The kites
passed through between 1:30 and 3:00pm, and the flight included a kettle
of 68!
August 16, 2004:
A little quieter on the hill today. The
weather is holding, but slowly creeping towards the higher end of the
thermometer. We'll probably be at "normal" August temperatures by the
weekend.
Scott reports today's count at:
Mississippi Kite: 23
Swainson's Hawk: 2
Crested Caracara: 1
Total: 26
One more side note for the record: Area birder Kent Taylor reports he
spotted a group of eleven swallow-tailed kites migrating over a field
near the hospital in Kingsville, Texas on August 8th. Not bad! The hatch
and survival ratios must be picking up; the flights have been really
good the past two years at both Texas fall watch sites (us and Smith
Point near Galveston). We're all anticipating another banner year for
swallow-tailed kites, among other species. Thanks for that report, Kent!
August 17, 2004:
Scott reports a higher
diversity of raptors today, but lower numbers:
Swainson's Hawk: 2
White-tailed Hawk (sub-adult): 1
Broad-winged Hawk: 1
Red-tailed Hawk: 1
Total: 5
Other birds:
Green Jay visited the newly erected feeder this morning as well.
1 flock of 350 Anhingas
3 Wood Storks
Roseate Spoonbill
Western Kingbird (Yesterday: 8-16)
Least, Semi, and Western Sandpipers at the pond
Black-bellied Whistling-duck
Thanks, Scott. Good to see the first broadwinged hawk officially on the
count. Anhingas continue to be coming in good numbers. They're one of
our favorite indicator birds to use in watching for hawk flights. And
they're great to break folks in on kettle-counting, along with the white
pelican flights that can number into the hundreds at peak passage for
those species. Weather here is still balmy but getting moister and
warmer. Effects lingering from that mini-front that passed last week are
pretty much gone and by the weekend, we should be back into regular
August heat with temps back up in the mid to upper 90's.
UPDATE: A big thank you to Lyndon
Holcomb for the following unofficial report (unofficial in that it can't
go on the official HWI count, but is being logged in here as an
anecdotal report, for your information):
"I read your posting on
birdingonthe.net, and assume that the hawk watch you referred to was at
Hazel Bazemore. On Tuesday 8/17 at 6PM, my wife Nan Dietert and I had
located some Grooved_Billed Ani's that Linda Alley had told us about
near the Porta-Cans at the base of the "hill" at Hazel Bazemore, when a
kettle of at least 50 of what appeared to be all Mississippi Kites went
by from west to east. If not all were Mississippi Kites then certainly
the majority were, and the figure of 50 is a conservative estimate."
August 18, 2004:
Greetings all! Joel brings us today's
report from the hill:
Great clouds, cool winds, but few birds. Even had an afternoon
thunderstorm that shut down the watch for a little over an hour. Bob
Creglow put up his feeder at the site and is already attracting several
birds including Green Jays. The one exciting thing that happened today
was one of our resident adult White-tailed Hawks actually stooped and
took a medium to large size bird out of the sky. All we know for sure is
that whatever the bird was, it beat its wings and struggled while the
white-tailed took it all the way to the ground.
Mississippi Kite...............1
Swainson's Hawk................2
Unidentified Buteo.............1
Total- 4
Thanks, Joel! Awesome show by the white-tailed hawk. Getting to see them
make an avian aerial kill is a rare treat.
August 19, 2004:
Scott brings us today's report from the
hill:
The hottest day of the watch so far with our highest reading on the hill
of 98 in the shade. Strong south-southwest winds kept it very quiet
again.
Red-shouldered Hawk: 1
Swainson's Hawk: 2
Harris' Hawk: 2
Others:
We were happy to see the first Javelina (Peccary to some) under the bird
feeder!
2 Scissor-tailed Flycatchers (scarce lately at Hazel according to Joel)
2 Black Terns
Greater Yellowlegs
Yesterday (8-18):
Gull-billed Tern
Black-bellied Plover
AREA UPDATE: Lyndon Holcomb reports a
group of 40 wood storks seen in a pond off county road 360 near Sandia.
Three least grebes were also in another little pond on the north side of
360 near the intersection of CR 3605 near Sandia. Thanks, Lyndon!
August 20, 2004:
Dane brings us today's report from the
hill:
Swainson's Hawk = 2
Broad-winged Hawk = 1
Total: 3
Non-Raptor highlights: Roseate Spoonbills, Blue-grey Gnatcatchers,
Ladder-backed Woodpecker, White-faced Ibis.
Yes , a slow day with SE winds, but it was still great to be there!
August 21, 2004:
Scott brings us today's report:
Early birders (only three of us) were
treated to a few excellent early birds that were firsts for the year's
count. First, an American Kestrel flew west to east along the treeline
down by the river. About 15 minutes later, we were alerted that
something was up when a Laughing Gull gave an alarm call for several
seconds. Not much later, a Peregrine Falcon shot into view heading along
the river at eye level before circling up above the plain and out of
sight. Nice birds to start, but unfortunately, we slowed down again for
the rest of the day. Here are the totals:
American Kestrel: 1
Peregrine Falcon: 1
Mississippi Kite: 3
Broad-winged Hawk: 2
Total: 7
The broad-winged came down right in front of us only about 100 yards
away, before appearing again about an hour later and heading south.
Excellent! Thanks, Scott. Nice to see
the falcons starting up. Clouds were all over the area yesterday which
always makes for nice low flights and better visibility. Heat indices
are moving up into the "dad-gummed hot" range already; Sunday is slated
for 110 and we're hearing Monday's heat index is expected to be around
118. Whew.
August 22, 2004:
Greetings all! Dane brings us today's
report:
Swainson's Hawk: 2
Total: 2
Area resident red-shoulders and white-tails kept the day from being a
total wash. Even the copious clouds throughout the area weren't enough
to shake migrant hawks out of the skies today. Those clouds will need to
stick around. Temps are already back in the "hot enough" range and
humidity is back up, bringing typical August triple digit heat indices
to the hill.
August 23, 2004:
Scott's on the deck today with the Hazel
report:
Large areas of rain from west to northwest of the area were probably
instrumental in cutting off any raptor migrations through Hazel. We
managed two birds:
Swainson's Hawk: 1
Red-tailed Hawk: 1
Total: 2
While we wait for the floodgates to open, we've been treated to some
interesting non-raptors today, including Groove-billed Ani, migrating
Caspian Tern, Yellow Warblers, and Upland Sandpipers. Tex, our resident
adult Red-shouldered Hawk made an appearance for the second straight
day.
Thanks, Scott! Those heat indices are still up there, rain
notwithstanding. That small front that moved through the Coastal Bend
today may bring a few more stacked-up hawks through tomorrow.
August 24, 2004:
From Joel:
2 Mississippi kites
7 Swainson's hawks
3 Red-tailed hawks
Total: 12
August 25, 2004:
From Scott:
Osprey: 1
Swainson's Hawk: 1
Mississippi Kite: 1
Red-tailed Hawk: 1
Total: 4
Non-raptors: Bank Swallow, Olive-sided Flycatcher
August 26, 2004:
From Joel:
2 Swainson's hawks
1 Red-tailed hawk
Total: 3
Dickie birds (non-raptors) remain scarce this week.
August 27, 2004:
You're going to love Scott's report for
today. Makes me wish I'd played hooky from work! Check it out:
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Just when another afternoon was winding down with a very disappointing
number of hawks, we were treated to an extremely rare view of one of our
favorite migrants. Conversations halted in mid-sentence as a large shape
darted up from the brush just down the hill to the north from the watch
site. All three of us (Joel, Jimmy Swartz, and myself) sputtered out at
the same time; something to the effect of
"fallow-mailed...Mississippi-tailed...Swallow-tailed Kite!!" The
swallow-tailed reappeared to the right again as we ran up the road to
get in position for a good look. It careened into the wind on it's long
wings and the long outer tail feathers curved in the breeze. What a huge
graceful bird! We observed the kite take a cicada out of the air and
bend it's head down to take a few bites while in flight. The bird
finally drifted out of sight to the south towards the radio tower. At
closest point, we figured the bird was 50 feet away at eye level then up
to 20 feet in the air, causing euphoria to us hawk-watchers the whole
time.
Anyway, the rest of the afternoon was spent talking about this great
sighting. Here are the official totals for the day:
Swainson's Hawk: 2
Broad-winged Hawk: 1
Swallow-tailed Kite: 1
Total: 4
Other non-raptors: Probable Baltimore Oriole and Buff-breasted
Sandpipers
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Thanks, Scott and crew!! Those are definitely some of the moments we
hawk watchers live for! Close encounters of the raptor kind are rare
enough, but we do get our share at Hazel. We've often joked that the
early part of the hawk watching season consists mostly of hour after
hour of mind-numbing, eye-straining staring through binos and scopes,
interrupted occasionally by moments of sheer panic and chaos. (And
people wonder why we have so much chocolate at the watch, heh!) Come on
out to the hill and get in on the fun!
August 28, 2004:
Dane files today's report:
Mississippi Kites : 270
Black Vultures : 16
Swallow-tailed Kites : 9
Swainson's Hawks : 2
Totals: 297
Also Ringed Kingfisher, Bobwhite quail
A good day until thunderstorms developed and had us surrounded by
mid-afternoon, shutting down the migrants.
Thanks, Dane! You know, we were kinda kidding when we said "get lots of
swallowtailed kites" as we took off for San Antonio in the early
afternoon ... wow!! Nothing like a watch report made-to-order!! Nine,
yet! And here we were, exclaiming over Smith Point's incredible report
of FORTY-EIGHT stki's on August 27th (they're now up to 72 of those
babies for the season!). Awesome work, guys; keep it up!
August 29, 2004:
Scott gets the report in for us today:
Swallow-tailed Kite: 2
Mississippi Kite: 75
Cooper's Hawk: 2
Broad-winged Hawk: 1
Swainson's Hawk: 3
American Kestrel: 2
Unknown Buteo: 1
Totals: 86
Others: Many Upland Sandpipers, Brown-crested Flycatcher
Thanks, Scott! And the swallow-tailed kites just keep on coming!
Aaaaaamazing. Swainson's continue to come in good numbers, and it's good
to see the Miss. kite numbers picking up.
Hornsby Bend's watch near Austin, TX is also up and running and racking
up the raptors, too, thanks to Jeff and his crew. I see the front
brought them a goodly number of Mississippi kites today
Smoley Hokes, Batman! This is gonna be another fun one! With the passage
of today's front, we're anticipating a good haul of all sorts of birds
Monday at the watch in between the scattered leftover rain showers still
roaming south Texas. Go out to your nearest watch site and support the
counters. They love the company and with all these hawks starting to
move through us now, and mobilizing from up north, there can't be too
many eyes to the skies! (Don't forget the chocolate!)
August 30, 2004:
Dane files today's report:
Totals for 8/30/04 :
Mississippi Kites : 778
Broad-winged : 7
Swainsons' : 7
Kestrels : 6
Swallow-tailed Kites : 4
Peregrines : 2
Merlin : 1
Cooper's : 1
Northern Harrier : 1
Unidentified Buteo : 1
Total = 808
Also, Male + Female Baltimore and Orchard Orioles, Brown-crested
Flycatchers, Female Indigo Bunting, several Ruby-throated Hummers,
Yellow Warblers, E. Wood-peewee, many White Pelicans, 1,000 plus
Anhingas, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs on floodplain. Other than that,
not much!
Thanks, Dane! Ha! He says "not much!" ... gotta love his subtle
understatement! Yeppers, that little old front came through in spades
today! Wowsa, that's a nice little shopping list. Now we're talking
migration. I see Smith Point continues its awesome tally of
swallow-tailed kites; 31 more over the weekend. Whew. The mind boggles
at how good the hatch and survival was again this year. That's three
years running with increases over monitoring sites each fall, and we
hope the trend continues. Bill was out on Padre Island today and saw
some snows and blues ... while I had an American goldfinch at my Port
Aransas lab; first one of those we've recorded at the lab. A verrry
weird but fun migration so far!
A quick update; the Texas Hawk Watches
web site (along with our entire domain, for that matter) is still down
as of tonight. The server is still being resuscitated ... *gulp* ...
bad, bad crash, they tell me. Server CPR continues; and we'll continue
to keep you posted.
August 31, 2004:
Greetings all! Joel files today's report:
Although not a big day, the hawks and other birds were spread out
through the day to make it a very interesting day.
First the totals:
Osprey................1
Mississippi Kite..43
N. Harrier.............1
Cooper's Hawk.....4
Broad-winged H...32
Swainson's..........2
Am. Kestrel.........3
Total 86
Midway thru the day Scott and Dane made a wager on which would have the
higher total, broadies or Miss. Kites....Scott won! Over 3,000 Anhingas
and several flights of White Pelicans gave us the opportunity to
practice our counting techniques. Several Baltimore Orioles added some
color and a pair of Bobwhite Quail were the surprise. Usually, we just
here them but today they were seen on the golf course and running across
the road.
Great report, Joel! Thanks! Another update; the Texas Hawk Watches web
site (along with our entire domain, for that matter) is back up again!
Life is good!
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