Hazel Bazemore Hawk Watch

Corpus Christi, Texas (Nueces County)

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

Tara's report:

Boy was today exciting, right?? :) After yesterday's 72223 birds, who would've thought we weren't going to top that today a couple of days after the front came through??

Well, we did beat yesterday's count-- for Peregrines!! 37(!!) versus only 14 yesterday. However, sad to say, that was the only thing that we did beat. Our total count for the day was (drumroll......)-- 189!! (and no, that is not a typo!!) Windy conditions did something to all those broadwings we were hoping would get here today-- who knows where they are now (on their way still??) Compared to yesterday's totals of nearly 72000 broadies, today we had a whopping 39!! What a way to end our "peak weeks!!" (or not... :) )

Needless to say, it was an enjoyable day otherwise with lots of visitors here, a nice Zone-tailed Hawk flew over us a number of times giving a couple of really nice looks, and the Northern Mockingbirds serenaded us all day. I think it's also safe to say that everyone there at the site today was able to leave at the end of the day and be confident in their abilities to identify Peregrine Falcons!! (a couple of visitors even remarked on this fact.)

Broad-winged Hawk 39
Red-tailed Hawk 2
Swainson's Hawk 5
Red-Shouldered Hawk 1
Turkey Vulture 4
Black Vulture 6
Mississippi Kite 2
Sharp-shinned Hawk 22
Cooper's Hawk 27
American Kestrel 4
Peregrine Falcon 37
Merlin 4
Osprey 18
Northern Harrier 5
Harris's Hawk 1
Zone-tailed Hawk 1
Unidentified Buteo 1
Unidentified Accipiter 9
Unidentified Raptor 1
Total- 189

Our "peak" hours were between noon and 3 where we saw 34 (13 broadies), 64 (21 broadies), and 60 (4 broadies) birds respectively. The 2-3pm time slot saw our highest accipiter count (including 14 coops), and 17 peregrines (along with 8 ospreys).

Thanks, Tara! What a great report! Even though numbers were low, spirits were high and we had a ball on the hill anyway. By the time watch was wrapping, Joel and Brian were mugging with the silhouette cutouts to remind all of us what kettles looked like! (Check out the end of this day's report for some photos! <grin!>) Honestly, the peregrine flights are amazing. I still can't believe how many came through the watch today. Who would have thought that peregrines would be step for step with broadies on any one day around here? <grin!> Poor Bill's lips will be chapped tomorrow (I get a kiss for every peregrine that we see go by -- it's a tradition we've been keeping ever since we started birding together and let me tell ya, today I'm cashing in big time!). Come to think of it, my lips might be chapped tomorrow, too, heh!

Needless to say, I had to hit the books tonight before crashing into bed, to look up data on peregrines after the day we had with them today. Wow, 37! Okay, yes, it's official; at least for the past nine years (HWI years), that's a new single day record for the watch! The former high day was September 22, 2003 with a grand total of 29 peregrines for the day. Interestingly enough, even with that many peregrines coming through the watch on that date, the total count to September 22nd was less than 200,000. The peak flight for 2003 didn't come until a week later. Yeah, I know! Just some food for thought! <grin!>

October 2, 2005:

Brian's report:

Well our so called "peak" is over, and we did not have one day over 100,000 birds. This is making many people on the hill wondering were the Broad-wings have gone. It seemed like a dream today when the word "kettle" was shouted out. We had three real kettles today, coming over one right after the other (405, 90, and 177 broadies). After that, the day slowed down.

Broadies: 729
Swainsons: 5
TV: 14
Black V: 1
Miss Kite: 1
Sharpie: 15
Coop: 18
Unidenfied Accip: 9
Kestrel: 8
Peregrine: 14
Merlin: 2 (one believed to be the prairie subspecies)
Osprey: 12
Harrier: 4
Zone-tailed: 1
White-tailed Hawk: 1
TOTAL: 834

Also, the SHORT-TAILED HAWK made and appearance at the site again. It got attacked by a Cooper's, which is not much smaller than the ST Hawk. We were also able to get it in the scope to see the clean white underparts and bicolored wings.

Thanks, Brian. We've all been disappointed at the low turnout in raptors over the watch this fall, with the traditional peak period passing us by without even one six digit day. But as we all know, weather plays a huge role in the movements of migrants, and aside from our low numbers, I think most of us can agree this has been an unusual migration on other levels as well. For instance, the peregrines at our watch. Big numbers this season, with earlier startup passages than usual and with the peak month for peregrines now upon us (October), who knows where that species will end the season. Mississippi kites continue to be logged in, and this is much later than we would normally see them. It's not just us, either. John Arvin and Kyle McCarty reported they're still getting Mississippi's at Smith Point (congrats to both, by the way, for above and beyond the call duty in getting the watch back on line under such horrible post-hurricane conditions. May the power come on and the water be restored much sooner than the 4-6 week estimation. And, do bring Kyle care packages if you go visit in the next month or so. He's 50 miles from any supplies, camping in the roughest conditions and could use the support and help.). By the way, did you see those sharpie numbers for Smith Point post-Rita? Wowsa!!! 

Here's another f'instance: this past Friday, hummingbirds have once again slammed south Texas in the wake of Rita, apparently thrown off their normal migration timings and patterns by the storms as well. We had great populations come down on schedule and in time for the HummerBird Festival in Rockport a couple weekends ago. No one's feeders suffered, by all reports. But a week after Rita, lo and behold, here came another huge wave. Jim at Mariposa Ranch is buried; folks in Corpus are buried, and we're all wondering 'what the heck?'. Don't know about most folks, but I had more hummers at my Port A lab show up for Friday's feedings than I've seen in the last 15 years together. My house got more this past Friday than we did all fall.

So, I submit, it ain't over 'til it's over, folks! We've seen some pretty weird things at this watch over the many years it's been in place. Personally, I'm looking at one more week of potentially good opportunities to get beaucoup broadies in, at least until our next front comes in this next Thursday. And with any luck, beaucoup Swainson's will come through as well. Let's hope this time the next front makes, and holds together long enough to get through south Texas and actually do us some good. Fronts do help those birds that have been concentrated by other factors (weather, for example) get shoveled across the watch sites.

In closing for tonight's report (I know, it's getting long, so please bear with me!), let me also hand out another 'above and beyond' award to three of our watch's more recent but definitely most loyal supporters ... Mary, Pat and Tony from Pennsylvania. Man, you talk about dedication! These guys travel each fall from Pennsylvania to Houston to join us at peak passage time, and this fall, they managed to not only get to Houston, Texas but got there right on the eve of Hurricane Rita! Not to be intimidated by a "little blow" (these guys come from the land of hurricane level nor'easters, don't forget!), they were late getting to the watch (as Corpus was evacuating, mind you!) only because they couldn't find gasoline supplies for their rental cat in Houston and were forced to stay an extra day until Tony's son from Houston was able to procure some fuel. Here they came, just in time for Corpus to lift the mandatory evacuation, and they settled in on the hill and put their eagle eyes to work helping to spot a number of the raptors seen since Rita passed by. Tony even brought his famous special hawk watch swivel chair with the gimbaled binocular rack that he always packs along to watch (and that must have been more than interesting, getting it through the Homeland Security measures at the various airports they've gone through over the years, heh!). As Joel quipped the other day, Tony's got the coolest chair at the watch! Alas, our intrepid trio are headed back today, and will be missed, but they go with our sincere love and gratitude for making it out for yet another season, especially under such trying circumstances. Similar hugs to out to Susan from New Hampshire, who took a break from her own watch to come help us out, and got in a day before Mary, Pat and Tony, right on time for Rita, too. And to Martin, who didn't let a little thing like the puddle known as the Atlantic keep him from making Hazel Bazemore a stop on his first visit ever to the US during the peak. Susan's already safely back at her watch; and Martin will be here for at least another day before continuing his US itinerary. Maybe longer, if the six-digit days start kicking in, <grin!>. One more award to Libby, who heard about the mandatory evac, called Joel and Vicki, and immediately volunteered to put up the entire evac'd crew plus some out of state visitors at her ranchito near San Antonio. We don't call ourselves family at this watch for nothing.

Oh, and, did I mention the bees? In handing out those hardship awards, let's add a few others for folks who got a little more than bargained for the past week or so. Apparently, Katrina and Rita threw the honeybees for a loop this fall, too, for some reason, and they strayed from their migration routes to come visit the watch for an extended stay. Those bees that opted to camp out awhile instead of migrating with their fellows left behind a few reminders of their visit in a few tender areas of some folks amidst the normal brushing off of mosquitoes. Definitely way out of the ordinary. You remember I did say we've seen some weird things at watch? Jot that one down for the books! By the way, the Coke in a dish attractant for bees followed by the careful application of sprays of detergent water works like a charm to put down the more persistent bees. Chalk up one more use for Coca Cola.

Interestingly enough, too, there was a report of another incident a few days ago of a red-tailed hawk barreling into a kettle of passing broadwinged hawks, trying to take one out for lunch. This most recent attempt failed, lucky for the targeted broadie, but serves to show that it's apparently not as an unprecedented act as we wondered when the same attempt was successfully made on another hapless broadie some seven or so years ago. A pundit in the crowd (okay, me) wondered if it might've even been the same red-tailed hawk that tried it again this season.

So! Let's gird up our bino straps, keep that chocolate close to hand, and see what this week brings. As we know, only the hawks really know when and where they're coming through. <grin!> So with a nod to Captain Peter Quincy Taggart of the NSEA Pretender, I leave you with his infamous and totally applicable words of encouragement for saving the galaxy and the 2005 fall season: "Never give up! Never surrender!"

(NOTE: Captain Taggart's tag line corrected on 10/03 ... apologies to the captain and crew of the NSEA Protector for the goof!)  

October 3, 2005:

Joel's report:

We said goodbye to Tony, Pat, and Mary from Pennsylvania after their ten day annual visit and welcomed Jeff Smith of HawkWatch International. The total may be low and the best birds of the day will not show up on the official tally....but we had good looks of our resident Zone-tailed Hawk and the big news is that we have two resident Short-tailed Hawks!!!! They were seen together at 4:35 pm today.

The first day for the Short-tailed Hawk was September 2, so they have been around for a month.

Broad-winged Hawk 118
Swainson's Hawk 1
Unidentified Buteo 1
Turkey Vulture 8
Sharp-shinned Hawk 43
Cooper's Hawk 22
Unidentified Accipiter 2
American Kestrel 5
Peregrine Falcon 16
Osprey 4
White-tailed Hawk 1
Merlin 1
Unidentified Raptor 6
Total 232

Thanks, Joel! The settling in of the two short-tails is very interesting! Time will tell as to how long they'll stick around. Peregrines continue to flood through; another remarkable on-going event! Can't wait to see the final tally for those guys! Winds and weather definitely are pushing hawks around. A good flight of hawks went over an independent observer's home mid-morning; too far west for the watch to pick up, alas. I am still maintaining a wait-and-see attitude until the next front goes through. 

October 4, 2005:

Joel's report:

Pleasant day with strong east winds in the afternoon. Mostly an accipiter and falcon day. The highlight was two peregrines going after each other.

Broad-winged Hawk 19
Red-tailed Hawk 1
Swainson's Hawk 4
Unidentified Buteo 1
Turkey Vulture 18
Black Vulture 5
Sharp-shinned Hawk 51
Cooper's Hawk 35
Unidentified Accip. 4
American Kestrel 6
Peregrine Falcon 16
Merlin 1
Unidentified Falcon 1
Osprey 2
Northern Harrier 5
Total 169

Thanks, Joel! Oh, now that's fun! Watching peregrines in action, period, is a real treat. Watching two of them in their aerial acrobatics makes you realize just how fast and persistent they are. It never fails to amaze me just how FAST those guys are. They make everything else in the sky look like it's all standing still.

There were scattered showers all over the area today, with some bodaciously nice cumulo-nimbos throughout the Coastal Bend. Not enough to daunt our intrepid hawk watchers, though! A very nice species spread overall!

Oh, some cleanup from yesterday ... add four more unidentified accipiters to the count for 10/03. They managed to slide off the report radar last night. Sneaky little things. That count now actually adds up to the total listed for yesterday of 232.

The front continues to be promised to us on Thursday, and now we're hearing temps of (dare we say it?) 65 degrees for a low?! I'll believe it when I see it, and maybe we really will get to see a real front for a change! Hope so. We need to keep tropical weather at bay. Tides are at elevated levels and redfish are running in the channels in their fall migration. Well, with these tides this week, they're running anywhere they pretty much want to! TS Stan went into Mexico and hopefully didn't bother too many folks with much trouble, but darn if there isn't yet ANOTHER dang system cooking up today right smack in the middle of the Alley (between the Keys and Cuba, heading into the Gulf. Let's hope that little system stays little and poops out. We've had quite enough tropical excitement this season, enough to last us a lot of seasons. <grin!>  

October 5, 2005: 

Dane's report:

Broadies: 332 (plus one dark morph)
Swainsons: 5
RS Hawk: 2
Unidentified Buteo: 1
TV: 9
Sharpie: 40
Coop: 42
Unidentified Accip: 10
Kestel: 21
Peregrine: 10
Osprey: 8
Harrier: 3
Merlin: 1
WT Kite: 1
Bald Eagle: 1
Unidentified Raptor: 2

Total 489

Thanks, Dane! My apologies to everyone for the tardiness of this report. Dane actually sent the report on time last night but for some reason, my ISP's email server decided to have a seizure and put it in my account's spam box. I finally found it tonight (I don't check that box but once every other day or so). Roses to Dane and thorns to my ISP's email server!!  

October 6, 2005:

Brian's report:

Today we had our first mixed kettle of Swainson's, Broadwings, and TVs. It was also the first day that we have not had a merlin - broke the 8 day string. Peregrine numbers were down today too. Highlight was the Golden Eagle, but Dane and I got on it too late to call the others over.

Broadies: 2139 (plus 1 "Chocolate Drop" dark morph)
RT Hawk: 1
Swainson's: 672
Unidentified Buteo: 1
TV: 58
Sharpie: 33
Coop: 40
Unidentified Accip: 14
Kestrel: 13
Peregrine: 3
Osprey: 21
Harrier: 12
Unidentified Raptor: 1
Golden Eagle: 1
WT Hawk: 1

Total 3011

Thanks, Brian! Chocolate drop broadies; I love it! (Dane and Joel have trained these guys well!) The front approacheth, even as I write this report, and it looks like we'll actually see the mercury drop a bit overnight and tomorrow and get some of those heavenly north winds for a change. And look! We finally got a golden eagle for the season! We get a few of these guys down here wintering, as well as baldies, but oddly enough, we don't always get at least one of each logged in at the watch each fall season. You'd think we would, but there it is. That brings us up to 24 species for the season. Numbers may be low, but the species variability is excellent this fall.  

October 7, 2005:

Brian's report:

Well, today was much cooler. The temperature stayed around 66*F, with a strong NW wind and overcast skies. This was the first day in a long time that we didn't have a Peregrine or Osprey.

Broadies: 2
Swainson's: 17
RS Hawk: 1
TV: 9
Sharpie: 7
Coop: 5
Kestrel: 6
Harrier: 2
Harris' Hawk: 2
WT Kite: 1

Total 52

Thanks, Brian. Those winds were stiff, all right, all over the coastal bend. But boy, was it nice and cool for the first time in half a year! You guys do know we only have two seasons here on the coast, right? Hot and d**n hot! We're all praying the cool weather and north winds last more than a day and that hawks get pushed over with the more northerly flow. The front did come in a day late. Typical outcome for around here. We call it the Coastal Bend Triangle (a la Bermuda Triangle), where weather fronts that are speeding southward like a freight train will suddenly disappear in a vortex or dissolve just 60 miles away from reaching us. Some hardier fronts do make it through for a short time, and are often delayed as the front line hits the moist warmer coastal air and head-on sea breezes.  

October 8, 2005:

Brian's report:

Today was a pleasant day to be outside, not too hot, not too cool. Clear blue skies made spotting difficult. Many birds were pick up among the flights of TV's. Dane picked up on adult light morph Ferruginous Hawk, which flew over the site for 5 minutes. It was visible by naked eye, before it was joined by several Broadies, and then I pick up a Prairie Falcon which joined the group. We had a second, juv Ferrug fly over about half and hour later. We ended up with a 3 falcon day, lacking the Merlins which were around all last week. We still don't have a 4 falcon day, I guess that's just how it goes.

Broadies: 187
RT Hawk: 1
Swainson's: 44 two dark morphs
Shoulder H: 3
TV: 342
Black: 8
Miss Kite: 1
Sharpie: 14
Coop: 20
Unidentified Accip: 12
Kestrel: 4
Peregrine: 2
Harrier: 1
Prairie: 1
Ferrug: 2 both light morph, adult and juv.

Total 642

Thanks, Brian! 

October 9, 2005:

Brian's report:

Pretty slow day today. We did participate in the big sit today, which kept us busy during the slow times.

Broadies: 166 (plus one dark morph)
RT Hawk: 2
Swainson's: 6
Shoulder H: 2
TV: 39
Sharpie: 21
Coop: 20
Unidentified Accip: 7
Osprey: 6
Harrier: 12
WT Hawk: 2 (2nd yr and a juv)

Total 284

Thanks, Brian! Jimmy Jackson reported a liftoff logged by his daughter of about 2000 broadies this morning at the Dobie Ranch near Lake Corpus Christi, north of the watch (thanks, Jimmy and Jennifer!).

It looks like the majority of the season's broadies did bear west, skirting the coast on a wider margin than usual. Most likely due to all the tropical weather of late. The abundance of dark morph broadies supports that theory, as well as the large numbers of flights seen on radar during the past two weeks migrating well to the west of the watch, and into central south Texas around Alice and points west.

Swainson's continue to be reported moving towards Texas in good numbers, and if we can get some nice fronts in, we might have a shot at getting some of those flights over the watch as they head for Argentina.

NOTE: Some late housing keeping from Brian for Sunday 10/09: add 19 kestrels and 1 peregrine. Brings that day's total to 304. 

October 10, 2005:

Brian's report:

This morning was very slow; we had no birds until 1250. Then we had a mixed kettle come over where three of us had clickers and keep track of several different species, and we were counting for about 1/2 and hour. Only one other big push an hour after that.

Broadies: 359 (plus 4 dark morphs)
RT Hawk: 2
Swainson's: 42
Shouldered H: 1
TV: 221
Black V: 17
Sharpie: 41
Coop: 16
Unidentified Accip: 6
Kestrel: 31
Peregrine: 11
Osprey: 3
Harrier: 3

Total 757

Thanks, Brian! Those mixed kettles are fun!   

October 11, 2005:

Joel's and Brian's report:

Well, we were able to get a few hours of hawk watching in before the T-Storms came rolling across. Tara
spotted and IDed our only bird.

Kestrel: 1

Total 1

As for our big sit. We did pretty good, but lacked many birds we see on a regular basis at the site (like Least Flycatcher, both species of ibis, spoonbills, cattle egrets, chat, verdin, and sandhill cranes). We
started the sit at 9 am and ended at 5 pm, a regular 8 hour hawk watching day. We ended up with 76 species.

American White Pelican
American Anhinga
Double-crested Cormorant
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Wood Stork
Turkey Vulture
Black Vulture
Mottled Duck
Blue-winged Teal
Northern Shoveler
Cooper's Hawk
Sharp-shinned Hawk
Northern Harrier
Red-shouldered Hawk
Red-tailed Hawk
Broad-winged Hawk
White-tailed Hawk
Harris' Hawk
Swainson's Hawk
Osprey
American Kestrel
Peregrine Falcon
Killdeer
American Avocet
Black-necked Stilt
Long-billed Curlew
Lesser Yellowlegs
Greater Yellowlegs
Franklin's Gull
Laughing Gull
Mourning Dove
White-winged Dove
Common Ground-dove
Inca Dove
Rock Pigeon
Belted Kingfisher
Ladder-backed Woodpecker
Golden-fronted Woodpecker
Chimney Swift
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
N. Rough-winged Swallow
Tree Swallow
Barn Swallow
Cave Swallow
Cliff Swallow
Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
Vermilion Flycatcher
Eastern Phoebe
Couch's Kingbird
Great Kiskadee
Green Jay
Warbling Vireo
Loggerhead Shrike
Carolina Wren
Black-crested Titmouse
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Northern Mockingbird
Gray Catbird
Brown Thrasher
Long-billed Thrasher
Orange-crowned Warbler
Nashville Warbler
Yellow Warbler
Northern Parula
Northern Cardinal
Rose-breasted Grosbeak
Indigo Bunting
Dickcissel
Olive Sparrow
Lincoln's Sparrow
Common Grackle
Red-winged Blackbird
Baltimore Oriole
European Starling

Thanks, Brian! Rains deluged the entire Coastal Bend today in varying amounts as a backed-up front from last week rolled right back over us with tons of Gulf moisture it gathered on its way back across. And then headed back out to sea. Let's hope it stays there for awhile!

Okay, before the rest of you start wondering if you got the right report opened up, <laugh!>, yes, I'm including Brian's report of the Big Sit totals from the other day, so you can see what other birds are in and around the watch site during the fall hawk watch. We do get a lot of queries about what else can be found at the park and site. The Big Sit gives us the perfect fall census report! And this was a very respectable showing. Kudos and thanks to the crew for a) doing the Big Sit and b) sharing the results with the rest of us! 

October 12, 2005:

Dane's report:

Broad-winged hawk : 1678
Red-tailed Hawk : 2
Swainson's : 111
Red-shouldered : 1
Unidentified Buteo : 1
Turkey Vulture : 54
Black Vulture : 8
Sharp-shinned Hawk : 135
Cooper's Hawk : 47
Unidentified Accips : 6
American Kestrel : 54
Peregrine Falcon : 3
Merlin : 3
Osprey : 2
Northern Harrier : 4
Total = 2109

1 Short-tailed Hawk showed itself at 10:10am (light-morph adult) ... this awesome Raptor flew West , which is not typical behavior to this point .

Also had an intermediate or rufous-morph Swainson's : very cool stuff

Thanks, Dane! Very cool, indeed!! Glad to see another shortie report (short-tailed hawk, not the length of Dane's report, <grin!>). 

October 13, 2005: 

Dane's report:

Broad-winged Hawk : 219
Red-tailed Hawk : 3
Swainson's Hawk : 5
Turkey Vultures : 170
Sharp-shinned Hawk : 71
Cooper's Hawk : 22
Unidentified Accips : 6
American Kestrel : 43
Peregrine Falcon : 2
Merlin : 2
Osprey : 1
Northern Harrier : 1
Harris's Hawk : 2
Unidentified Raptor : 1
Total = 548

Thanks, Dane! 

October 14, 2005:

Brian's report:

Today got off to a slow start. It even had a slow end, or so it seemed. At 4:55, we had had no birds for about 2 1/2 hrs. Then in the next fifteen minutes we would double our count for the day with a huge kettle of vultures coming through. A few birds trickled in after that. The joke became, can we go home yet. For a while, the answer was no....because another few birds would come through. Finally, I had enough time to retally the bird totals, which I did several times, and go home. Man, why do the birds have to wait for closing time to come in instead of coming in the previous hours?

Broadies: 38
RT Hawk: 4
Swainson's: 8
Shouldered Hawk: 2
TV: 581
Black V: 1
Sharpie: 47
Coop: 29
Unidentified Accip: 3
Kestrel: 37
Osprey: 1
Harrier: 2
Caracara: 1
Zone-tail: 1
WT Hawk: 1

Total 756

Thanks, Brian! The hawks do love to come in late as it gets later in the season, especially when they know the counters are tired. Sneaky little things, aren't they? <grin!> Turkey vultures appear to be on schedule. October 14, 2004 was a large flight day as well.

Ricky Perez sent a nice report from his watch down in El Salvador (a new site that we're really, really excited about!). He notes their flights seem to be a bit skimpy this season, too, but they managed some good single days, including a morning liftoff of 75,000 one day!

Glad to see Veracruz is finally reporting in. Even with the creative southward flight routes this fall, the raptors are finding their way through the pass. Looks like a good day down there on the 10th with almost 765,000 recorded. Cardel and Chichicaxtle's combined sites are just shy of 3 million now.

October 15, 2005:

Tara's report:

Things were pretty exciting today--not "peak" exciting, but good ol' October exciting. The turkey vultures are overtaking the broadwings by good numbers now, and every single black vulture we tried to count today decided to turn around and go back north, even after streaming with a bunch of southward bound TV's (sigh--tricky tricky birds!!).

However, there were a couple of really bright spots to the day. After starting off with 0 for the 1st hour, our highest hour was again our last one, (102) but we did not stay late today. After yesterday, I'm glad the birds finally figured out how to tell time and realized that 5pm means "stop flying." :) (No, this was not one of the highlights of the day-- but it was nice... :))

Our 2 highlights--we had 1 Adult Harlan's Red-Tailed Hawk. We also had single adult Golden Eagle!! The eagle was really nice to fly by some other birds including a TV so we could get a great size comparison. These 2 birds single-handedly made up for the fact that we had fewer birds than yesterday!! (that and the fact that I had a hand in spotting that eagle-- I don't recall if I actually did see it first or not, but I DID see the birds it was with first and got everyone looking in that part of the sky, so that's the most important part anyway, right?? :) so that was the highlight of MY day... :)

On the non-raptor side of things, we did have a Blue-Headed Vireo hang out at the site for a few hours, along with a Black and White Warbler who foraged in the branches right above our heads and gave us really great looks. At the end of the day the vireo even sat on the power line at the site and posed for us as well--sitting on that line he looked so tiny!

Oh yeah, the count... :)

Broad-winged Hawk - 50
Red-tailed Hawk - 1
Swainson's Hawk - 15
Red-Shouldered Hawk - 1
Turkey Vultures - 164
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 46
Cooper's Hawk - 12
American Kestrel - 24
Peregrine Falcon - 1
Merlin - 1
Osprey - 2
Northern Harrier - 3
Golden Eagle - 1
Unidentified Buteo - 2
Unidentified Accips - 11
Total = 334

Thanks, Tara! A really nice day, all right! And the weather was sweet, too, for a change! Just right to keep the chocolate from melting too fast. <grin!>  

October 16, 2005:

Brian's report:

Slow day today, the birds came in every so often all day long.

Broadies: 37
RT Hawk: 2
Swainson's: 10
RS Hawk: 2
TV: 75
Sharpie: 9
Coop: 5
Unidentified Accip: 1
Kestrel: 9
Osprey: 4
Harrier: 1
Ferruginous: 1
Unidentified Raptor: 2
Total: 158

Thanks, Brian! We're enjoying the balmy air the last front brought in (though it's warming up a little more each day) and keeping a weather eye on the tropics, again. Wilma, huh? Wow. With any luck, Wilma will piffle itself out in the middle of nowhere and let our season close with no more tropical belches.

October 17, 2005:

Brian's report:

Another slow day. Clear blue skies made spotting hard.

Broadie: 12
Swainson's: 3
TV: 101
Sharpie: 6
Coop: 3
Unidentified Accip: 5
Kestrel: 4
WT Hawk: 1
Caracara: 1

Total 136

Thanks, Brian! 

October 18, 2005:

Brian's report:

It was a slow day until about 2pm. Before then, we only had 7 birds but then we had a few groups of vultures come through.

Broadies: 3
RT Hawk: 5
Swainson's: 3
TV: 103
Coop: 3
Kestrel: 3
Peregrine: 1
WT Hawk: 1 juv
SHORT-TAILED HAWK: 1 juv (this bird had a strong desire to head south so it is unlikely that it will be seen again)

Total 123

Also, yesterday we had LB Dowitchers, Redhead, and Am. Wigeon on the pond.

Thanks, Brian! The winter visitors are arriving, all right. Got my five winter peregrines on Mustang Island settling in nicely, as well as a smattering of harriers (they're not all in kettles, right? <grin!>). And a winter merlin moved in right across the street from my Port Aransas lab. Been scaring the doves at my feeders and keeping them on their little toes. Ahhh, the scent of winter is in the air ... well, okay, just because we only get two seasons down here throughout the entire calendar year (hot and hotter, 'member?) doesn't mean we can't dream, right? So what if the turning of the leaves down here means the sea breezes have kicked up so much the leaves are flipping upside down? So what that even once the fall hawk watch ends, we'll still be in tropical storm season for two more weeks? And, so what if the closest we get to a snow storm (barring last Christmas's really and truly freak snowstorm of the century mark-plus kind) is the wafting of white sands from the beaches into the air during a norther? Or, a good drug bust from the South Texas Task Force? ... but I digress! So ... it's actually cooling off to below 90 these days, and there's a definite freshening to the breezes that this week come from every direction instead of southwest. The Swainson's aren't quite through yet and the vultures are only getting warmed up. Yep ... fall's in the air and winter is on its heels!! Or what passes for fall and winter down here, <laugh!>! And even with the Lite version of migration this fall ... it's still my favorite time of year! 

October 19, 2005:

Dane's report:

Broad-winged Hawk : 7
Swainson's Hawk : 8
Turkey Vulture : 216
Sharp-shinned Hawk : 5
Cooper's Hawk : 6
American Kestrel : 1
Peregrine Falcon : 1
Merlin : 1
White-tailed Hawk : 1
Total = 246

Also, had Yellow-billed Cuckoo on-site.

Thanks, Dane! Balmy weather is nice to watch in, but sure makes for slow movements. A front is due in this weekend. We could use a good push or two! 

October 20, 2005:

Brian's report:

Another slow day. 80% of our birds came between 2:00 and 2:30. If only we could get a cloud now and then. By the way, the ST Hawk the other day was a Lt morph juv.

Broadies: 4
Swainson's: 3
TV: 95
Sharpie: 2
Coop: 4
Kestrel: 3
Harrier: 1

Total 112

Thanks, Brian!  

October 21, 2005:

Brian's report:

We've tried long and hard this year to get 4 falcons in a day. We had 8 days of Peregrine, Merlin and Kestrel, when the Prairie showed up, the Merlin did not. So I am writing a poem, about our falcon day.

We start the day of right,
with a White-tailed Kite.
A Caracara going north
in the poor morning light,
and a KESTREL
A very common sight.

A four falcon day?
Not a chance, no way.

Next hour comes with a local WT Hawk,
With an accip next to it.....
No falcon. No accip.
Dark with a long tail,
Larger than a kestrel, smaller than a peregrine.
The matter was put to bed,
when it flew over head.
A falcon indeed, and an APLOMADO FALCON at that.

A four falcon day,
Include the Caracara and we may.

The past days have been slow,
but from 12pm on the streams came.
Vultures with friends, Sandhills with other friends.
A great day all the same.
When late afternoon comes,
a MERLIN does too.
An hour later,
not one Merlin but two.

A four falcon day?
One hour to go, scan hard, don't play.

Where is the Peregrine,
The saving grace of this year,
With a record day,
and near record year.
Could we miss a Peregrine in our 4 falcon day?
Vultures come as 5 o'clock comes,
When over head...
A Swainson's, a Broadwing, an Accip, a "Hey Dane look
up"
As it soar through a little patch of blue,
The adult PEREGRINE shines through.

A four falcon day?
Finally yes, hurray.

We stay a 1/2 hour more,
Since we had birds at 5.
The two harriers made us stay 15 minutes more.
When all in closed down,
and we're ready to go home,
"Brian get over here"
can be heard all around.

A light bird
A large bird
Is that arm pits?
Is that a weird looking Kestrel?
Look at that!!
It flaps, and flaps some more
It flaps not of a Kestrel,
A classic PRAIRIE flap
A prairie falcon flap, how about that.

We realized a four falcon day
is not good enough for Hazel
So I present to you,
A FIVE FALCON DAY, plus CARACARA.

Broadie: 20
RT Hawk: 3
Swainson's: 67
WT Hawk: 1
Harris': 1
TV: 472
Black V: 2
Sharpie: 9
Coop: 16
Unidentified Accip: 9
Kestrel: 17
Peregrine: 1
Merlin: 2
Aplomado: 1
Prairie: 1
WT Kite: 1
Osprey: 2
Harrier: 3
Total 628

That's 17 species, plus a local Caracara and RS Hawk, total 19 species. Not bad. Also 40+ Sandhills, White-fronted Geese, and a Scarlet Tanager.

TTYL
Overly Excited

<laughing!> Thanks, Brian! I live for days like today! Awwwww! Ya gotta love it! When events conspire to inspire poetry, there's just not much more a body can say -- the muse will always have its own way! I sit in awe at the day's tallying and hold bated breath to see what tomorrow will bring! 

October 22, 2005:

Brian's report:

Well, today started with a WT Kite and 190 TV's. Another great day.....not quite. It slowed down as the day progressed. It seems we used up all the clouds from yesterday. We've had an entire week of no clouds, yesterday had great clouds and great birds, now today...no clouds. May be this second cold front will help.

Broadie: 15
RT Hawk: 3
Swainson's: 5
RS Hawk: 2
Unidentified Buteo: 1
TV: 334
Sharpie: 2
Coop: 6
Unidentified Accip: 2
Kestrel: 5
Harrier: 4
Harris': 1
WT Kite: 1

Total 381

Thanks, Brian!  

October 23, 2005:

Dane's report:

Broad-winged Hawk : 5
Red-tailed Hawk : 1
Swainson's Hawk : 3
Red-shouldered Hawk : 1
Turkey Vulture : 252
Black Vulture : 9
Sharp-shinned Hawk : 15
Cooper's Hawk : 10
Unidentified Accipiter : 2
American Kestrel : 7
Osprey : 1
Northern Harrier : 3
Harris's Hawk : 1
Total = 310

To add a little spice to our day , we did a 'Big Site' count as well : all species including non-Raptors were counted , from the Site only - we had 50 species . Non-Raptor highlights included : Lark and Lincoln's Sparrows , Snow and Ross's Geese , Sandhill Cranes , White and Brown Pelicans , Baltimore Oriole , and a stunning Black-throated Green Warbler ( full adult male ) . We really had fun ... The team was myself , Tara Conkling , Bob Creglow , and help from our friends , Mike , Meenall , and Satyr ... It was fun ....

Thanks, Dane!  

October 24, 2005:

Brian's report:

Very cool all day today. Most the birds came as the cloud cover was dissolving. Birds slowed to a halt when we had clear skies.

Broadies: 7
RT Hawk: 1, plus 1 juv Krider's
RS Hawk: 1
TV: 541
Black V: 1
Sharpie: 10
Coop: 9
Kestrel: 2
Harrier: 2

Total 575

Thanks, Brian! Those blue skies are eyeball and thermal killers, no question.

Hey, everyone in the south Texas area reading this, keep your eyes peeled please for migrating monarch butterflies. The Monarch Watch is on. Harlan and Altus Aschen up coast in Victoria, TX tell us the masses are moving through. They'd love to get reports from anyone seeing any number of them, for their record books. Please contact them via their web site: http://mcmc.homestead.com/ and thanks from all of us in advance!

October 25, 2005:

Brian's report:

Forgot to mention yesterday we had between 4000-5000 Franklins's gulls pass over the watch.

Today, there was a nice liftoff of 20-30 sandhill cranes from the field below (north) of the watch. Another Big Sit brought 54-55 species, including a broad-tailed hummingbird at the feeder. Also had greater white fronted geese pass over.

BV: 1
TV: 10,404
Sharpies: 4
Cooper's: 2
Broadies: 5
Swainson's: 4
Red-tails: 7 (incl. 1 Krider's)
Harris's: 1
Unid accip: 1

Total 10,429

Thanks, Brian! Fall is definitely in the air when the geese, cranes, vultures, and Franklin's gulls start coming over in big batches! Teal are in the area as well; had a nice flock on the causeway between Padre Island and the mainland on my way home from work last night. Good haul on vultures! Not many people realize we have excellent flights of vultures in fall, often during peaks of thousands at a time. A neat sight!

I'm leaving up the monarch note just in case someone decided not to read yesterday's report (never happen, I know, <grin!>). Taggers are getting them in good numbers now; the local NBC affiliate talked to one pair who tagged about 100 yesterday by the time the 6 o'clock news hit. South Texans are asked to keep your eyes peeled please for migrating monarch butterflies. The Monarch Watch is on. Harlan and Altus Aschen up coast in Victoria, TX tell us the masses are moving through. They'd love to get reports from anyone seeing any number of them, for their record books. Please contact them via their web site: http://mcmc.homestead.com/ and thanks from all of us in advance!

October 26, 2005:

Brian's report:

broadie: 4
red-tail: 1
TV: 2,030
sharpie: 7
Cooper's: 6
harrier: 1
white-tailed kite: 1
unid accip: 1
TOTAL: 2,051

October 27, 2005:

Brian's report:

We've had about 600 monarchs that we've counted since Monday.

Today was extremely windy all day.

RT Hawk: 1 plus 1 adult Krider's
Coop: 2
Sharpie: 1
Harrier: 1

Total 6

Thanks, Brian! The monarchs continue to come through. Reports from our MonarchWatchers up coast indicate the flights may still be coming from Cape May. There's a neat mind's eye shot!  

October 28, 2005:

Joel's report:

Today was very windy on the hill. The bird of the day was an adult Bald Eagle at about 1:15. Even with the wind we had 26 Monarchs making their way south.

Broad-winged Hawk 7
Red-tailed Hawk 1
Swainson's Hawk 1
Turkey Vulture 843
Sharp-shinned Hawk 5
Cooper's Hawk 10
American Kestrel 1
Peregrine Falcon 2
Northern Harrier 1
Harris' Hawk 1
Bald Eagle 1
Total 873

Thanks, Joel! As sad the season has been over the watch site for broadies, the eagles and falcons have more than made up for it. It's nice to see those guys coming in such good numbers this fall 

October 29, 2005:

Brian's report:

Swainson's: 1
TV: 158
Black V: 10
Coop: 3
Sharpie: 2
Unidentified Accip: 5
Harrier: 2
Osprey: 1
Harris': 2
Merlin: 1

Total 185

Thanks, Brian!

October 30, 2005:

Brian's report:

Things really are slowing down. It was a pleasant day to be outside, but we did not have many birds

RT Hawk: 1
Osprey: 2
Coop: 2
Sharpie: 1
Peregrine: 1
Caracara: 1
TV: 95

Total 103

Thanks, Brian! Yup, things do start to slow after the big push, much as we'd love for the flights to continue at higher numbers through end of watch. In driving around the Coastal Bend this weekend, Bill and I noticed a number of winter hawks already coming on station; good numbers of falcons, red-tails and vultures of both flavors are seen and being seen on area ranches and brush country expanses all over the area. 

Brian's report:

Turkey vultures: 76
Unid Raptor: 1
Total 77

Thanks, Brian! Boy, the ghosties and ghoulies even sent the hawks under cover today! Actually, that may have had more to do with a strong Pacific front that not only actually made it down, complete with full lightning show and rain, but was in such a hurry to get here that it arrived six hours earlier than expected. Played havoc with the trick-or-treaters, coming in just as most of them were hitting the pavement with a good running start, but it sure made for a perfectly spooky atmosphere for haunting before the rain and hail kicked in! "It was a dark and stormy night ...." --- we'll stop there! <grin!>