[tn-bird] Soddy Mountain Hawk Report 9/28/02

Today we had another record breaking day of 1000+ Broad-winged hawks.  Bill 
Haley had to work so I tried to arrive early...for me that was 9:30 am.  Jim 
Rowell and Harold Birch were already there.

As I exited my van hawks were overhead!  Already it looked as if we would 
have another super day.  The three previous days were rain outs so I was 
completely convinced today would be another good flight day.  So what if we 
didn't have another one thousand day like the two previous days before bad 
weather set in.  My mind was focused and I would accept what ever totals we 
had at the end of this watch, but I couldn't stop thinking that we were less 
than 150 Broad-wings away from our season high of 3625 set in 1995.

By 11:45 the pressure was off.  A kettle of 49 had passed over our heads and 
the old record was now history.  We were participants writting a new chapter 
for Soddy Mountain.  Jim and Harold kept spotting kettles even though the 
cloud cover had changed from 40% to around 10%.  If you've ever spent much 
time around a hawk watch you know what I'm talking about.  Blue skies is a 
fate worse than a curse!  These guys amazed me all day as they kept pulling 
specks out of this clear blue sky.  Most of the time when I finally got onto 
the group they had seen a third of the birds had already peeled off and flown 
away.

Totals for today:

OS - 4
SS - 7
CH - 1
RS - 1
BW - 1161
AK - 4
----------
1178

Year to Date  (unofficial total)

OS - 19
BE - 14
NH - 2
SS - 23
CH - 6
RS - 1
BW - 4633  ( new season record)
RT - 3
AK - 8
ML - 2
PG - 1

UA - 2
UB - 1
UE - 1

----------
4716 

Today's counters were: Jim Rowell, Harold Birch, Kyle Wagner, Gary Brunvull, 
Woody Woodiel, Danny & Anita Gaddy, Cynthia Wilkerson and myself.

Jimmy Wilkerson
Hixson, Tn.


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