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Come Join Us For The Ninth Annual
Corpus Christi Hawk Watch
at Hazel Bazemore County Park

CELEBRATION OF FLIGHT!

September 28 to October 1, 2006

Please click the icons above to view the 2006 announcement and program. The file is in Adobe PDF format (free reader available at www.adobe.com.
 

The awe-inspiring spectacle of hundreds of thousands of migrating raptors is one of the true wonders of nature. Although the hawk watch runs from August 15 to November 15, the four days of the 2006 "Celebration" are set during the traditional peak of hawk migration for this site.

UPDATE: This year we are pleased to announce the return to the hill of the very popular live raptor education and conservation program conducted by "Last Chance Forever"! LCF will put on one program only on Saturday at the hill. The program starts at 10:00am, so get there early to pick a good spot to watch! Don't forget to bring chairs, water and sunscreen. And PLEASE - do not bring personal pets of any size or kind to the raptor program. The education raptors are free-flying and while very gentle with humans, they are wild birds, not pets. Their instincts are fully intact - they work with the LCF staff on a mutually-agreed upon basis gained over many years of training and trust. That includes their trust on our part that the audience and bystanders will not cause them any undue distractions.

UPDATE: In a last minute addition, the 6th Annual Native American Blessing WILL take place on the hill this fall after all, at 2:00pm on Sunday, October 1. Our thanks and appreciation to the Gulf Coast Indian Confederation for honoring us with the blessing ceremony each season. 

The watch would not be possible without the many wonderful volunteers that help man the site all season. Principal among them are the wonderful members of the Audubon Outdoor Club of Corpus Christi, who continue to provide warm body, moral and financial support each season.

A special thanks to the Nueces County Parks and Recreation Department and their staff at Hazel Bazemore Park for providing such a magnificent place to watch hawks.
 
Sponsors
The Corpus Christi Hawk Watch at Hazel Bazemore Park is a HawkWatch International (HWI) site. HWI is the only group that conducts full season counts in Texas and deserves our full support, so please think about becoming a member.

Funding for our full-season raptor migration project is provided by the Houston Endowment,  Trull Foundation, Audubon Outdoor Club, and the members of HWI, we greatly appreciate their support.

"A Celebration of Flight" is supported by the Corpus Christi Convention and Visitors Bureau, Northwest Business Association, HEB, Comfort Inn, and the many wonderful volunteers that also help man the site all season.

A special thanks to the Nueces County Parks and Recreation Department and their staff at Hazel Bazemore Park for providing such a magnificent place to watch hawks and to our event sponsor, SWAROVSKI OPTIK.
   
Website
The server and web site for the Texas Hawk Watches (THW) is provided and administered by Patty Waits and Bill Beasley. For information on birds in general and for the Coastal Bend, and for the Corpus Christi Hawk Watch and hawk watching in Texas, please visit the Audubon Outdoor Club of Corpus Christi (AOC) and Texas Hawk Watches web sites at www.ccbirding.com. For information on or questions regarding the web sites, please contact Patty Waits Beasley at patty at ccbirding dot com.
   

Where to Stay
There are many places to stay in Corpus Christi and the fine folks at the Convention and Visitors Bureau (1-800-678-6232) can provide you with all the details.  One close place that has been very hawkwatch friendly is the new Comfort Inn (only one mile from Hazel) that can be reached at (361) 241-6363. 

   

Directions to Hazel Bazemore Park
The park is located in the northwest corner of Corpus Christi in the community of Calallen.  Highways 37 and 77 intersect and run together for a short distance, the first exit south on Hwy 77, less than one half mile south of this intersection, is FM 624 (Upriver Road).  Go west on 624 for .7 mile to the second traffic light. The entrance to the park is on the right. For more information on the park, please see the Hazel Bazemore information page. 
   

When to Come
The peak of migration occurs between September 24 and October 1 and there are usually two to three days of counts exceeding 100,000!  That's a lot of hawks…but…it is impossible to pin it down any closer.  Below is a list of raptor species and the best times to see them.
   
Swallow-tailed Kite August 15 to September 15
Mississippi Kite August 15 to September 15
Broadwinged Hawk September 15 to October 15
Osprey September 15 to October 15
Peregrine Falcon September 20 to October 20
American Kestrel September 10 to October 15
Cooper's Hawk September 20 to October 20
Sharp-shinned Hawk September 25 to October 25
Red-tailed Hawk October 5 to November 5
Swainson's Hawk October 5 to October 20
Turkey Vulture October 15 to November 10
Black Vulture October 25 to November 1
   
For further information on "A Celebration of Flight" or to volunteer, contact Joel Simon at (361) 241-2617 or by email at jsimon@uschoice.net.
   

Corpus Christi Hawk Watch at Hazel Bazemore County Park
Our Mission

We monitor and promote the conservation of eagles, hawks, and other birds of prey and strive to increase public awareness of and commitment to birds of prey and the ecosystems that support them.  We believe that by protecting raptors we are protecting ourselves, our shared environment, and our rich natural heritage.  Our staff, along with many volunteers, man the watch daily to count raptors by species and collect other important data.  We also have an active outreach education program that brings raptor education to more than 36 area schools and more than 7900 children!  Hundreds of people come out to the watch to enjoy formal programs on site.  The multiple habitats of Hazel Bazemore County Park have made it one of the local birding hotspots to not only enjoy the wonder of raptor migration in the fall and spring, but some of the best birding in the coastal bend year-round. 

   

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