Hazel Bazemore Hawk Watch

Corpus Christi, Texas (Nueces County)

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

Broad-winged Hawk: 8098 (5 dark)
Red-tailed Hawk: 4 (1 dark, 1 Harlan's adult)
Swainson's Hawk: 151 (4 dark)
Red-shouldered Hawk: 1
Unid. Buteo: 12
Turkey Vulture: 135
Mississippi Kite: 16
Sharp-shinned Hawk: 185
Cooper's Hawk: 85
Unid. Accipiter: 22
American Kestrel: 147
Peregrine Falcon: 20
Merlin: 9
Prairie Falcon: 1
Unid. Falcon: 3
Osprey: 11
Northern Harrier: 6
Unid. Raptor: 14

Total: 8920

Diversity, diversity, diversity. October is here! Buteos, Accipiters, Falcons and assorted Friends. In other words, a glorious day of Hawkwatching!

This just in from the sports desk: dark morph Broad-winged Hawks 5, dark morph Swainson's Hawks 4.

In the second game of our doubleheader, dark morph Red-tailed Hawks and dark morph Harlan's Hawks fought to 1 to 1 draw.

Awesome!

I was very excited to get the Prairie Falcon. I was actually looking at another Bird when I stumbled across this excellent Falcon. Often, Prairie Falcons fly over on my day off. But I got to see this one. Yes!

Not many clouds (if any) to speak of, but we have some very sharp eyes on the skies. A fantastic job by my fellow observers - great job everyone!

Hazel Rocks! (And this is Rocktober!)

If you want to see some Raptors, Hazel is the place...

Dane

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Thanks, Dane! Bill and I and others have been checking west, for as we know, many hawks that don't make the trek over Hazel quite often go far west of the site, out of view of counters. The past few days have brought some late kettles in, not over the park as we usually hope, but out to the west, so we went out for liftoffs the next morning. Not too many caught in a nearby favored spot; several thousand only, but plenty enough to get the blood racing for the day! Chats with locals around the watch site are so much fun. "Oh, I see lots of those hawks over my house each morning!" What a great way to start the day, and how wonderful that more and more folks are realizing how special this kind of thing really is. It's so easy to take something for granted when it's all around us every day. Looking through the eyes of someone else puts it all back in perspective. Keep your eyes up; as Dane notes, most of the broadies might already be winging through Mexico and points south, but we've still got half of migration to go yet, and the falcons, redtails, eagles, vultures and accipiters haven't even reached their peaks yet!

Cheers,
Patty

October 2, 2008:

Broad-winged Hawk: 3261
Red-tailed Hawk: 2
Swainson's Hawk: 46
Unknown Buteo: 5
Turkey Vulture: 99
Black Vulture: 45
Mississippi Kite: 11
Sharp-shinned Hawk: 314
Coopers Hawk: 117
Unknown Accipiter: 26
American Kestrel: 155
Peregrine Falcon: 15
Merlin: 10
Small Falcon: 1
Osprey: 20
Northern Harrier: 20
Prairie Falcon: 1
White-tailed Hawk: 2
Zone-tailed Hawk: 1
Ferruginous Hawk: 1
Unknown Raptor: 13

Total: 4165

Hawkwatching conditions finally turned for the better today. There was limited cloud cover, but the haze was much reduced. Our eyes are very thankful. We had four adult White-tailed Hawks in the sky at once today, a first for this year. Two of the adults moved right on through. The first Ferruginous Hawk (light morph adult) of the year came through to the West with a small group of Broadwings and Swainson's. A mover Zone-tail went through right over the west end of the platform and a Merlin buzzed the platform in the last hour before close. We had another good day for dark morphs with two dark morph Swainson's (the first from 1100-1200 and the second from 1300-1400) and two dark broadies from 1100-1200, one dark broadie from 1200-1300 and two dark broadies from 1300-1400).

Finally, the Vermilion Flycatcher pair have been present the last two days on the wires and snags by the river.

Thanks to all the extra eyes. There were birds coming from every corner of the sky! We were sorry to see several of our peak visitors leave today. See you again next year!

Hazel Rocks!

Leslie

October 3, 2008:

Broad-winged Hawks = 950
Swainson's Hawks = 1907
Red-tailed Hawks = 3
Unknown Buteos = 2
Turkey Vultures = 106
Black Vultures = 2
Mississippi Kites = 2
Sharp-shinned Hawks = 11
Cooper's Hawks = 15
Unknown Accipiters = 1
American Kestrels = 6
Peregrine Falcons = 2
Ospreys = 7
Northern Harriers = 9
Harris's Hawks = 1
White-tailed Hawks = 1
Unknown Raptors = 6
Total = 3031

Two large kettles of Swainson's Hawks - Awesome! The largest group was 1150, and another with 750 Swainson's Hawks. Truly spectacular!

Other highlights included an immie Krider's Red-tailed Hawk, 1 dark morph Swainson's Hawk, and 2 dark morph Broad-winged Hawks.

Hazel Rocks...

Dane

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Thanks, Dane! Another hard day of few/no clouds. Our counters are earning every bird, let me tell ya. Awesome to see the Swainson's hawks coming through in good numbers!

Cheers,
Patty 

October 4, 2008:

Broad-winged Hawk: 30
Swainson's Hawk: 13
Red-tailed Hawk: 2
Red-shouldered Hawk: 2
Unid. Buteo: 4
Turkey Vulture: 106
Sharp-shinned Hawk: 30
Cooper's Hawk: 24
Unid. Accipiter: 4
American Kestrel: 14
Peregrine Falcon: 24
Merlin: 3
Osprey: 11
Norther Harrier: 4
Unid. Raptor: 5

Total: 276

Perfect skies with white fluffy clouds today and we picked out as many birds as we could. Birds were steady most of the day except for Merlins and Peregrines - all the merlins and 17 of 24 p-birds blasted through in the last 2 hours. There was a low flyover by a merlin carrying a small prey item (20 feet over the platform) and the same from a Peregrine carrying the remains of an unIDable bird. Almost the last bird of the day was another low flying merlin who crossed the platform west and stooped over the pond making all the peeps scatter. She (big girl) then perched on a snag in the bottoms for a bit before moving on.
Also interesting was 3 more dark morph Swainson's from 1100 to 1200. We're pretty sure this is a higher percentage of darkies than ever before - at least more than Dane and I have seen. Have those guys been eating our chocolate?

Libby

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Thanks, Libby! We've been out in the field, so I'm gonna catch up and will do the season-to-date recap after the dailies are submitted.

Cheers,
Patty  

October 5, 2008: 

Broad-winged Hawk: 2
Swainson's Hawk: 30
White-tailed Hawk: 2
Ferruginous Hawk: 1
Unid. Buteo: 1
Turkey Vulture: 95
Black Vulture: 2
Sharp-shinned Hawk: 1
Cooper's Hawk: 2
American Kestrel: 1
Peregrine Falcon: 5
Unid. Falcon: 1
Osprey: 1
Unid. Raptor: 1

Total: 145

One great day on the hill today with more perfect skies. Of course, we wish there were more birds, but you just can't beat the views, the cool breezes and the awesome company.

Our second Ferrugie of the count was a dark morph but unfortunately a scope view only seen by a few counters in the distant west. Two more white-tailed immies came through today - both with good size white throat patches and one with what Bob called a "swallow-tail".

Lots of accipiters and falcons coming through the pipelines up north should start bombarding us Southerners again any day now. Don't miss it!

Many thanks to Bob & Jo Creglow, who brought the counters lunch from the Czech Fest.

Libby

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Thanks, Libby! Bill and I were out in the field again south and west, chasing Swainson's Hawks that bypassed the watch (and we found lots of 'em!), so again, for today I'm just gonna catch up on daily report and will do the season-to-date recap when we all get caught up.

Cheers,
Patty  

October 6, 2008:

Broad-winged Hawk: 11
Swainsons Hawk: 26
Unknown Buteo: 2
Turkey Vulture: 110
Black Vulture: 9
Mississippi Kite: 2
Sharp-shinned Hawk: 9
Coopers Hawk: 8
American Kestrel: 1
Peregrine Falcon: 5
Osprey: 1
Northern Harrier: 1
White-tailed Hawk: 1
Ferruginous Hawk: 1
Unknown Raptor: 2

Total: 189

We had wonderful clouds and south winds for a very comfortable day of Hawk Watching. Numbers were a bit slow today, however, we had a nice stream of ten Swainsons, a beautiful immature White-tailed Hawk, the local Red-shoulders fly below the platform, and the third Ferruginous Hawk (light morph adult) of the season. There was also one chocolate drop Broadie from 1100-1200.

Hazel still rocks on a slow day!

Leslie 

October 7, 2008:

Broad-winged Hawk: 1077
Red-tailed Hawk: 3
Swainson's Hawk: 8187
White-tailed Hawk: 1
Harris' Hawk: 1
Red-shouldered Hawk: 1
Unid. Buteo: 5
Turkey Vulture: 448
Black Vulture: 22
Mississippi Kite: 1
Sharp-shinned Hawk: 225
Cooper's Hawk: 121
Unid. Accipiter: 32
American Kestrel: 135
Peregrine Falcon: 12
Merlin: 14
Aplomado Falcon: 2
Unid. Falcon: 2
Osprey: 5
Northern Harrier: 8
Unid. Raptor: 8

Total: 10310

The numbers speak for themselves! Included in our Swainson's Hawk spectacular were 143 dark morphs. (For Hawkwatch International purposes, intermediate morphs are tallied as dark morphs). We also had 1 dark morph Broad-winged Hawk and 1 dark morph Red-tailed Hawk.

The Aplomado Falcons traveled through Hazel together. This is the 2nd year in a row we have had a pair of these awesome Falcons flying together. Obviously a thrill for all that were present.

Thanks to our friends Aldilo Szabo and Bill Clark for spending some time with us - y'all hurry back!

Awesome job by our guests and volunteers - a great time was had by all.

Hazel really Rocks!

Dane

P.S. Welcome to Hawktober!

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Thanks, Dane! I knew it! That little cold front was enough to bring in the Swainson's! I bet a few more will be coming through on the 8th. <grin!>

John Economidy has crunched more numbers for us, bless him ... says we have a couple new records as of this count:

* Most Merlins in a single day at 14, beating out 13 on September 22, 2003.

* Pretty sure that you have set record on most different dark morph buteos in a single day with three. Need to check old records.

Thanks, John!

Cheers,
Patty  

October 8, 2008:

Broad-winged Hawk: 607
Red-tailed Hawk: 3
Swainsons Hawk: 14859
Unknown Buteo: 6
Turkey Vulture: 240
Black Vulture: 5
Sharp-shinned Hawk: 125
Coopers Hawk: 102
Unknown Accipiter: 14
American Kestrel: 30
Peregrine Falcon: 1
Merlin: 4
Unknown Falcon: 1
Osprey: 1
Northern Harrier: 10

Total: 16008

Great day for Swainsons Hawks! There was a lift off of 3900 Swainies from 09000-1000. Birds came in steadily all day, but the big movement was from 1100-1200 with 7409 birds. Birds were coming in from every direction making for a very exhausting mid-day. In addition, there was one dark morph red-tail, 57 dark morph swainies, one intermediate morph swainie and one rufus morph swainie.

Leslie

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Thanks, Leslie! Check out John's latest tabulations!:

______________________________

Your flight of 14,859 Swainson's Hawks on Wednesday, October 8, 2008
massively broke numerous records. Congratulations! Might be nice to
report on the winds that day. We know a NW cold front was on the Great Plains
on Monday. How was it at your watch?

First, that daily observation exceed the total number of Swainson's Hawks
seen at the watch in an entire season, exceeding in one day the
prior seasonal records of 14,753 in 2004 and 14,257 in 2001.

Second, obviously, the sighting of 14,859 SWs on October 8, 2008
exceeded the prior daily flights of 8,756 on October 14, 2001.

*** Crunched the data base and can now confirm my belief:
you did indeed set a record on October 7, 2008 by seeing
dark morphs on three different species (RTH, SW, & BW) in a single day.

- John M. Economidy
__________________________________________________

And from Libby ...
The crew would like to invite everyone to the platform Sunday, October 12th for the first platform Big Sit! Our team, the Corpus Christi Hawkwatchers, will compete for bragging rights. Also, through our newest Texan, Clay Taylor, Swarovski Optik is donating prize money for a "Golden Bird" drawing - the winning team gets $500 for a non-profit, environmental organization. Come help us show the world how many species we can get in our wonderful little park.
Whew! A lot to take in for a nice, calm, fall day! Let's go Sit on the hill and bring in the birds!

Cheers,
Patty 

October 9, 2008:

Broad-winged Hawk: 163
Swainson's Hawk: 110
Red-tailed Hawk: 3
White-tailed Hawk: 4
Harris' Hawk: 1
Red-shouldered Hawk: 2
Unid. Buteo: 2
Turkey Vulture: 241
Black Vulture: 8
Mississippi Kite: 1
Unid. Accipiters: 21
Sharp-shinned Hawk: 195
Cooper's Hawk: 93
American Kestrel: 48
Peregrine Falcon: 2
Merlin: 1
Prairie Falcon: 1
Unid. Falcon: 1
Caracara: 1
Osprey: 8
Northern Harrier: 13
Unid. Raptor: 11

Total: 930

Another rocking Hawktober day. 18 Raptor species counted. The Prairie Falcon was an excellent treat(as always). A "late" Mississippi Kite was also way cool; and 4 immie White-tailed Hawks moving through were simply awesome.

Hazel Rocks!!

Dane

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Thanks, Dane!

Cheers,
Patty 

October 10, 2008:

Broad-winged Hawk: 27
Swainson's Hawk: 29 (1 dark)
White-tailed Hawk: 1
Ferruginous Hawk: 1
Harris' Hawk: 1
Turkey Vulture: 114
Black Vulture: 3
Sharp-shinned Hawk: 32
Cooper's Hawk: 27
Unid. Accipiter: 1
American Kestrel: 2
Peregrine Falcon: 1
Osprey: 1
N. Harrier: 4

Total: 244

The raptors have slowed, but action was steady all day. This keeps your counters on their toes picking onesies and twosies out of a near solid blue sky. Bird of the day was the Ferruginous, an immature dark morph and my best ferrugie look this season. Came through at medium height straight down the middle with its humongous, eagle looking head - just gorgeous!
We set up a small drip bird bath yesterday (in preparation for the Big Sit!) and a Cardinal was the first to drink from it. Green Jay and Mockingbird came close but didn't jump in. We'll see how the second day action turns out. Lots of new visitors coming in for a long weekend, so we should have a great party on the hill. Come join in the fun!

Libby

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Thanks, Libby!

Cheers,
Patty  

October 11, 2008:

Broad-winged Hawk: 2
Red-tail Hawk: 1
Swainson's Hawk: 11
Ferruginous Hawk: 1
White-tailed Hawk: 1
Turkey Vulture: 120
White-tailed Kite: 1
Sharp-shinned Hawk: 6
Cooper's Hawk: 3
Unid. Accipiter: 2
American Kestrel: 7
Peregrine Falcon: 4
Osprey: 4

Total: 163

What an interesting day on the hill!

We watched dark clouds moving in and past us all morning and then the rain started. We watched for falcons in the rain for a bit, called off the watch for almost 2 hours and then went back and re-opened the watch around 2:00. Once again, birds were slow and steady and, as befitting an October day, the few raptors passing through always include some jewels.
The Red-tail was a Harlan's adult - absolutely the darkest raptor seen by many and was very close to being called a dark Rough-legged. This bird passed north to south over the platform then turned and went back north. Counters took turns following it in the scope and sure enough it passed right over the platform a second time. Between the first and second pass we were studying the Wheeler & Clark photo guide pp 182-183 (How did they know?) so we were more than ready.
The Ferruginous was also an adult, also a dark morph. Another one of those Wow! raptors.

I will leave it to the stat gurus to answer this one - Why are we getting so many dark morph buteos this season? There seemed to be more dark Swainson's than normal, we've had more dark Red-tails/Harlan's, and now we have more dark than light Ferrugies. Send us your ideas.

Thanks to our visitors today for the sitting in the rain company and for enjoying these incredible birds with us - its always more fun when we can share. Come back soon!

Libby

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Thanks, Libby!

Cheers,
Patty 

October 12, 2008:

Broad-winged Hawks = 3
Swainson's Hawks = 29
Unknown Buteos = 1
Turkey Vultures = 402
Black Vultures = 6
Sharp-shinned Hawks = 10
Cooper's Hawks = 4
American Kestrels = 3
Peregrine Falcons = 7
Ospreys = 7
Northern Harriers = 1
Ferruginous Hawks = 1
Total = 474

Ferruginous Hawk was a light morph adult. Awesome!

Want to thank all whom participated in our Big Sit effort. Unofficially we had over 90 species. More on that in our next post.

Hazel Rocks...

Dane 

October 13, 2008: 

Red-tailed Hawks = 2
Swainson's Hawks = 13
Unknown Buteos = 1
Turkey Vultures = 902
Sharp-shinned Hawks = 6
Cooper's Hawks = 9
American Kestrels = 2
Peregrine Falcons = 7
Ospreys = 3
Harris's Hawks = 1
Total = 946

Opening was delayed due to storms. Still, 7 Peregrines - way cool!

1 dark morph Swainson's Hawk - excellent!

Hazel Rocks...

Dane 

October 14, 2008:

Broad-winged Hawks = 8
Swainson's Hawks = 23
Unknown Buteos = 1
Turkey Vultures = 707
Black Vultures = 10
Sharp-shinned Hawks = 46
Cooper's Hawks = 16
Unknown Accips = 8
American Kestrels = 7
Peregrine Falcons = 1
Merlins = 3
Unknown Falcons = 1
Northern Harriers = 4
Unknown Raptors = 1
Total = 836

Nice push by Sharp-shinned Hawks. The 3 Merlins came through just a few minutes apart. We are getting nice streams of Turkey Vultures, usually with some other Raptors mixed in. Excellent!

Hazel Rocks...

Dane

October 15, 2008:

Swainsons Hawk: 2
Turkey Vulture: 19
Sharp-shinned Hawk: 16
Coopers Hawk: 10
Unknown Accipiter: 1
American Kestrel: 2
Merlin: 1
Northern Harrier: 3
White-Tailed Hawk: 1
Unknown Raptor: 1

Total: 56

A rainy day at the park kept our raptor numbers low, however, we enjoyed many passerines in between showers including: Black-throated Green Warbler, Orange-crowned Warbler, White-tipped Dove, Olive Sparrow and Verdin.

A special thank-you to our refugee counters from Smith Point, Keven Georg and Bob Baez, for their additional support during the last month. We'll miss you! Enjoy your travels!

Thank you to Libby and Dane for cooking a delicious pork loin and to all the guests who supplied side items and joined in Bob and Kevin's goodbye party.

Hazel Rocks!

Leslie

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Thanks, Leslie! Bob and Kevin, you guys are welcome back any time on the hill! We're all looking forward to Smith Point getting back on the map for next season, but we'll sure miss your awesome work and great humor! Be well, guys, and don't be strangers. sm

Cheers,
Patty  

October 16, 2008:

Broad-winged Hawks = 1
Swainson's Hawks = 251
Unknown Buteos = 1
Turkey Vultures = 662
Sharp-shinned Hawks = 14
Cooper's Hawks = 2
Unknown Accipiters = 2
American Kestrels = 6
Merlins = 5
Total = 944

We had 2 dark morph Swainson's Hawks. Late in the day, we had a writhing kettle containing 248 Swainson's Hawks move past us - awesome!

It is Hawktober at Hazel Bazemore!

Hazel Rocks...

Dane

October 17, 2008:

Broad-winged Hawk: 5
Red-tailed Hawk: 6
Swainsons Hawk: 73
Red-shouldered Hawk: 3
Unknown Buteo: 5
Turkey Vulture: 6397
Sharp-shinned Hawk: 37
Coopers Hawk: 32
Unknown Accipiter: 6
American Kestrel: 19
Peregrine Falcon: 2
Merlin: 1
Northern Harrier: 4
Prairie Falcon: 1
White-tailed Hawk: 2
Ferruginous Hawk: 1
White-Tailed Kite: 5
Bald Eagle: 1
Unknown Raptor: 1

Total: 6601

Today was much more enjoyable the platform as sun replaces yesterday's drizzle. We had several very pleasant surprises including one non-adult Bald Eagle from 0900-1000 in the East, one adult light morph Ferruginous Hawk from 1000-1100, and five adult White-tailed Kites all overhead in a group of three from 0900-1000 and a group of two from 1200-1300. And most exciting, our biggest Turkey Vulture movement yet this season! 1259 from 1400-1500, 2213 from 1500-1600 and 1470 from 1600-1700. I'm sure the platform will be brimming with visitors hoping to see a Turkey Vulture lift off;)

Leslie 

October 18, 2008:

Broad-winged Hawks = 6
Red-tailed Hawks = 4
Swainson's Hawks = 50
Turkey Vultures = 4271
Black Vultures = 6
Sharp-shinned Hawks = 17
Cooper's Hawks = 9
Unknown Accips = 6
American Kestrels = 2
Merlins = 2
Ospreys = 5
Northern Harriers = 1
Unknown Raptors = 5
Bald Eagles = 1
Total = 4385

Nice streams of Turkey Vultures continue. Usually there are other Raptors mixed in the streams as well.

5 dark morph Swainson's Hawks.

1 Fuertes Red-tailed Hawk.

1 Bald Eagle juvie.

The Eagle, Fuertes, and 2 of the dark morph Swainson's Hawks gave us world class looks.

Absolutely awesome!

Excellent work by our Volunteers and Observers, as the skies have been virtually cloud free.

A special thanks to our Friend (and reigning Hawkwatch International Volunteer of the Year) Bob Creglow for his daily efforts. Bob not only puts in nearly full time hours as an Observer, but he also maintains our Bird bath-drip, our Birdseed feeder, and our Hummingbird feeder. So on behalf of the Birds, and the humans whom love to watch them - Thank You Bob!!!!

Hazel Rocks...

Dane

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Thanks, Dane! Another little front that actually made its way down has been providing fabulous hawkwatching (and general outdoor) weather.

Cheers,
Patty 

October 19, 2008:

Broad-winged Hawk: 80
Swainson's Hawk: 28
Red-tailed Hawk: 1
Red-shouldered Hawk: 1
Harris' Hawk: 1
Unid. Buteo: 6
Turkey Vulture: 767
Black Vulture: 45
Sharp-shinned Hawk: 55
Cooper's Hawk: 35
Unid. Accipiter: 10
American Kestrel: 9
Peregrine Falcon: 1
Prairie Falcon: 1
Unid Falcon: 1
Northern Harrier: 3

Total: 1044

Fun times on the hill. An unexpected push of broadies for this late in the season and interesting to note that the 85% that were close enough to age were all immies. The Prairie Falcon was spotted by Mr. Creglow (of course) and moved past right over us.

The most exciting bird of the day was a Groove-billed Ani that came to bath several times in our make-shift drip bath and then stayed around the platform most of the day. At times it was calling and seemed to be looking for its fellow anis.
We're expecting big vulture numbers over the next week as they are in the pipeline and on their way to us. Thanks to our watchers in Michigan for the heads up.

Libby

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Thanks, Libby! That little drip has really brought in the birds; migrants and regulars. Prairie falcons are definitely moving through. I saw a juvie on my way to work this morning on Mustang Island, too. He was looking around for some breakfast. Cool birds!

Cheers,
Patty 

October 20, 2008:

Broad-winged Hawk: 16
Red-tailed Hawk: 1
Swainson's Hawk: 12
Unknown Buteo: 2
Turkey Vulture: 531
Black Vulture: 10
Sharp-shinned Hawk: 25
Coopers Hawk: 24
Unknown Accipiter: 5
American Kestrel: 8
Peregrine Falcon: 1
Merlin: 1
Northern Harrier: 1
Harris Hawk: 1
White-tailed Hawk: 1
Unknown Raptor: 8

Total: 647

Clouds and a breeze moved in mid-morning for a pleasant day at the platform for hawkwatching. We had one chocolate drop Broadie and one dark morph Swainson, both between 1400-1500. One very feisty Kestrel dived on the single Peregrine of the day several times, managing to pull up just far out of reach. One of the Coopers Hawk females was big enough to invoke thoughts of Goshawk, if I remember correctly we had two Northern Goshawk records last year, but we didn't get a look that convinced us it wasn't a gigantic Coop.

Thanks to everyone we came out to share the nice weather!

Hazel Rocks!

Leslie  

October 21, 2008:

Broad-winged Hawks = 15
Red-tailed Hawks = 2
Swainson's Hawks = 5
Red-shouldered Hawks = 1
Turkey Vultures = 547
Sharp-shinned Hawks = 20
Cooper's Hawks = 25
American Kestrels = 9
Ospreys = 3
Northern Harriers = 2
Harris's Hawks = 1
White-tailed Hawks = 1
Ferruginous Hawks = 1
Short-tailed Hawks = 1
Unknown Raptors = 1
Total = 634

Short-tailed Hawk was a light morph - age undetermined. This awesome Buteo was observed kiting - apparently looking for a meal as it worked it's way South. At one point the Short-tailed Hawk was in the same view as a Swainson's Hawk, thus giving observers an excellent size and shape comparison.

Ferruginous Hawk was another dark morph adult. Quite frankly, I wonder if perhaps we have a dark morph Ferruginous Hawk in the Hazel vicinity. Obviously we are not seeing a dark morph Ferruginous Hawk everyday, but this excellent Buteo went through on the same flight line as 2 other dark morph Ferruginous Hawks that I have observed. Interesting, to say the least.

All kinds of cool stuff happening - waterfowl and Sandhill Cranes are flying through in increasingly larger numbers.

Yes, Hazel Rocks!

Dane 

October 22, 2008:

Broad-winged Hawk: 5
Red-tailed Hawk: 1
Turkey Vulture: 1168
Black Vulture: 19
Sharp-shinned Hawk: 4
Coopers Hawk: 20
American Kestrel: 1
Peregrine Falcon: 1
Osprey: 1
Prairie Falcon: 1
Unknown Raptor: 4

Total: 1225

We were pleasantly surprised to have a few Broadies come through today with Turkey Vultures. Although the migrants were a bit slow today, the local birds kept everyone's eyes to the sky. One of the local adult Red-shouldered adults posed in a mesquite on the west end of the platform for guests Jan and Chuck. Of course, none of our regulars with cameras were present at the time. White-tipped Dove and Lincoln Sparrow were both at the drip and the abundance of House Sparrows tempted the local Sharpie to take a dive into the brush.

We officially bid farewell to Bob Baez who will be traveling the Rio Grande Valley birding. Thanks for all the hard work and excellent spotting! Happy birding!

Thank you also to those who brought snacks, especially Bill and Patty Beasley. We were happy guinea pigs for the "terminated" shrimp.

Hazel Rocks!

Leslie

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Thanks, Leslie! It was a beautiful day between birds and people and Dane's awesome grilled burgers and dogs and hawkwatching while noshing on shrimp cocktail. Yeah, we really know how to rough it, all right, heh!

Prairie Falcon Bob, we'll see you on the flip side; thanks for a great job!

Cheers,
Patty  

October 23, 2008:

Swainson's Hawks = 3
Red-shouldered Hawks = 1
Turkey Vultures = 1421
Sharp-shinned Hawks = 8
Cooper's Hawks = 11
Unknown Accipiters = 7
American Kestrels = 3
Unknown Falcons = 1
Northern Harriers = 5
Crested Caracaras = 1
Unknown Raptors = 2
Total = 1463

Sadly , it is time to bid fond farewells to our friends Bob Baez and Kevin Georg. Kevin and Bob joined us here at Hazel Bazemore after Hurricane Ike forced them away from the Smith Point Hawkwatch. Both of these gentleman are high effort workers, excellent Hawkwatchers, and very good friends. Thanks for everything guys - you will be missed greatly...

Also, a heartfelt thanks to the Kilgore Family for providing comfort and hospitality to our visiting Hawkwatchers. You'all are awesome...

Last but never least; thanks to Hawkwatch International for working with Bob, Kevin, the Kilgore Family, and ourselves to make this whole thing happen. The Smith Point Crew were invaluable assets to the Hazel Bazemore Hawkwatch, and we are very grateful.

Hazel Rocks...

Dane 

October 24, 2008:

Broad-winged Hawks = 16
Red-tailed hawks = 12
Swainson's Hawks = 5
Red-shouldered Hawks = 2
Unknown Buteos = 2
Turkey Vultures = 1815
Sharp-shinned Hawks = 5
Cooper's Hawks = 33
Unknown Accips = 14
American Kestrels = 2
Ospreys = 2
Northern Harriers = 6
Harris's Hawks = 1
White-tailed Kites = 1
Bald Eagles = 1
Unknown Raptors = 3
Total = 1920

White-tailed Kite flew right over our platform - awesome !

Bald Eagle was a black-bellied immie. Not exceptionally low, but a nice look nonetheless.

I cannot say for sure, but I think this was our first double-digit day in 2008 for Red-tailed Hawks. Awesome!

Hazel Rocks...

Corpus Christi Hawkwatch Crew 2008

October 25, 2008:

Broad-winged Hawks = 4
Red-tailed Hawks = 3
Swainson's Hawks = 4
Red-shouldered Hawks = 2
Unknown Buteos = 2
Turkey Vultures = 514
Black Vultures = 26
Sharp-shinned Hawks = 6
Cooper's Hawks = 10
Unknown Accips = 4
American Kestrels = 2
Merlins = 1
Northern Harriers = 6
Zone-tailed Hawk = 1
White-tailed Kites = 1
Unknown Raptors = 2
Total = 588

First off, an excellent day of spotting by Libby! Libby spotted the Zone-tailed Hawk, the Merlin, and the White-tailed Kite.

We were unable to age the Zone-tailed Hawk due to poor light, but we can say for sure that this Bird is eating well, due to a maxed-out crop! Excellent.

Merlin was a male - and was just awesome, of course.

Another White-tailed Kite - this one cruising through at high altitude, but still an excellent look.

Non-Raptor highlights included numerous Sandhill Crane flyovers. Also 2 White-tipped Doves hanging around the drip, and a point blank look at a Verdin in the scrub by the platform.

Excellent temperatures all day - basically a perfect day to be outdoors.

Hazel Rocks...

Corpus Christi Hawkwatch Crew '08

October 26, 2008:

Broad-winged Hawk: 1
Swainson's Hawk: 5
Red-tailed Hawk: 2
White-tailed Hawk: 1
Turkey Vulture: 380
Black Vulture: 8
Sharp-shinned Hawk: 5
Cooper's Hawk: 10
American Kestrel: 2
Peregrine Falcon: 2
Merlin: 1
Northern Harrier: 7
Golden Eagle: 1
Unid. Raptor: 2

Total: 427

Happy dance! We don't have to wait until the last day for our (first) Golden Eagle!

Yessssssssssssss!

Leslie and I were watching a couple of Harris' Hawks going North when one passed under this humongous beauty. It was front and center with two Swainson's taking shots at it and when it got over the golf course "Junior" (our local Red-tail youngster) took a shot at it also. This was a subadult with some white left in the tail but no discernible white markings in the wings.

Expected a little more vulture action with the front coming our way but evidently there will be a push behind instead of in front of the front. But still good variety and more to come. The White-tail mover was an immature.

We were a little lonely on the hill this weekend - don't miss out on the eagles and all just because the big buteo kettles are past us. I'm not sure what you will miss, but I guarantee it will be something wonderful, even if its only the great company of the counters!

An additional note to yesterdays report: Four of the six Harriers yesterday were adult males. We had one more adult male today - what a treat!

Oh yes, and a moment of silence for the pumpkin eagle crafted and brought to our site by Bob Creglow for the second season. We suspect it looked a little too tasty to the critters - they couldn't stand it anymore - and Sunday morn all that was left were a couple small chunks and about 7 pumpkin seeds.

Libby

----------------------------------

Thanks, Libby! Good, that golden is right on schedule, and brings us to 26 species for the year. You know winter's bite is in the air when the eagles arrive over Hazel! And with the incoming front promising crispy lows this week, it's feeling more like winter approaching every day around here. Well, as much as we ever get winter. You know, that means the temps will at least be double digits rather than triple. <grin!>

Aw, gee, so the 2008 Eagle Pumpkin has already become critter food. Well, it was a run between two-legged critters or four-leggeds. I'd rather a four-legged or two get a good meal out of it, if we had to lose it from the watch. I've got a photo of last year's up on the web page daily report page for October on the Halloween date, but this year's had a dual look. I'll post a couple of pics up with this report of this season's. Bob, you did a great job! It did last a week or so (two weeks?), and I'm sure some critters out there in the platform neighborhood are very grateful for the yummy meal! <grin!>

Side 1 - eagle	Side 2 - Happy Halloween!
Thanks, Bob Creglow!

Cheers,
Patty

October 27, 2008:

Broad-winged Hawk: 1
Red-tailed Hawk: 4
Swainsons Hawk: 3
Unknown Buteo: 1
Turkey Vulture: 1878
Black Vulture: 4
Sharp-shinned Hawk: 8
Coopers Hawk: 15
Unknown Accipiter: 2
American Kestrel: 1
Northern Harrier: 1
White-tailed Hawk: 1
Golden Eagle: 1

Total: 1920

Well, the day started spectacularly with, as Dane said, "the best look at a Golden Eagle I've had at Hazel in five years." Spotted by James Witten between 0830-0900 the big bird flew right over the west end of the platform. The bird showed white at the base of the tail and white at the base of the flight feathers. We counted an immature Golden Eagle, the second Golden Eagle in two days!

Nice streams of Turkey Vultures kept us on our toes and scanning. We also had several vultures, two caracaras and two feral hogs feasting on something in a black bag between the pond and the river. Thanks to Jo, Bob and Lynn who spent most of the day, except the Golden-Eagle half-hour, on the platform braving the wind.

Hazel Rocks! 

October 28, 2008:

Broad-winged Hawk: 5
Swainson's Hawk: 1
Turkey Vulture: 510
Sharp-shinned Hawk: 6
Cooper's Hawk: 4
Unid. Accipiter: 2
American Kestrel: 2
Northern Harrier: 2

Total: 532

We were hoping for 3 Golden Eagle days in a row but no joy. (Surprising how greedy we can be, isn't it?) Anyway, slightly chilly on the hill with cool north winds - your counters are now dodging the shade instead of the sun. A steady flow of vultures all day interspersed with a little variety. But the most excitement came with our steaming hot bowls of soup from Nolan's - doesn't take much to make us happy.

Libby 

October 29, 2008:

Red-tailed Hawks = 6
Unknown Buteos = 1
Turkey Vultures = 102
Sharp-shinned Hawks = 1
Cooper's Hawks = 1
Peregrine Falcons = 1
White-tailed Hawks = 1
Unknown Raptors = 2
Total = 115

A great day to be at the Hawkwatch (although a few clouds would have been welcomed!).

Highlights included an adult dark morph Harlan's Hawk that we saw 3 times. A Harlan's Hawk hanging around Hazel? We are keeping our fingers crossed.

An adult Fuertes Red-tailed Hawk - absolutely gorgeous markings on this beautiful Buteo.

Last, but obviously not least - an adult Arctic Peregrine Falcon. This fabulous Falcon was lightly marked underneath on a very white base, and had a moderately wide malar mark. Based on size, this was a male Peregrine. An awesome Bird!

Hazel Rocks!

Corpus Christi Hawkwatch Crew '08 

October 30, 2008:

Turkey Vultures = 198
Black Vultures = 70
Cooper's Hawks = 3
Merlins = 1
Northern Harriers = 6
Unknown Raptors = 2
Total = 280

Highlight of the day was an adult male Northern Harrier that flew by, maybe 50 meters West of platform, and maybe 30 meters off the ground. Awesome!

The Birds are slowing down in terms of numbers, but still -

Hazel Rocks...

Dane  

October 31, 2008:
                            

Red-tailed Hawks = 10
Swainson's Hawks = 1
Unknown Buteos = 1
Turkey Vultures = 561
Black Vultures = 13
Sharp-shinned Hawks = 3
Cooper's Hawks = 4
Unknown Accips = 1
Northern Harriers = 2
White-tailed Hawks = 2
Total = 598

Our immie Red-tailed Hawk played catch-and-release with some floating vegetation(bean pod?corn husk?). It was way cool to watch!

White-crowned Sparrow at the drip; and Chipping Sparrows showed up as well.

Hazel Rocks...