[TN-Bird] Soddy Mountain Hawk Watch

Today was the best count of fall 2003 so far.  It didn't come close to our 
all-time high daily count of over 1,700, (2002 season), but it sure was fun.

We had scattered Broad-wings all morning, with a little over 100 by 2:00pm, 
but the best was yet to come!  We were treated to the biggest group of 
Broad-wings we've ever seen at Soddy Mountain.  About 2:10 Jim Rowell spotted a 
huge 
mass of over 600 Broad-winged Hawks streaming across the sky over the lookout, 
coming from due east and heading west.  This bunch was 25-30 hawks wide and it 
stretched half way across the sky.  What an awesome sight as they formed up 
into 2-3 massive, towering kettles above the western horizon before finally 
gliding on!  It was definitely the highlight of the day.  This kettle of 603 
was 
followed 6 minutes later by another kettle of 18.  Seven minutes after that 
another mass of birds was sighted streaking across the sky and we got a count 
of 
160 on that one.  Not bad, 781 hawks in less than 15 minutes!!!    

 Totals for 9/25/03   Broad-winged Hawks -  915; Sharp-shinned Hawks - 2;  
American Kestrel - 1.

I have an unofficial season total of  2663  Broad-winged Hawks.

Posted for Bill Haley by:
Jimmy Wilkerson
Hixson, TN.


=================NOTES TO SUBSCRIBER=====================

The TN-Bird Net requires you to sign your messages with
first and last name, city (town) and state abbreviation.
-----------------------------------------------------
To post to this mailing list, simply send email to:
tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
----------------------------------------------------- 
To unsubscribe, send email to:
tn-bird-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 
with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Topographical Maps located at http://topozone.com/find.asp
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
     Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society
          web site at http://www.tnbirds.org
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
    TN-Bird Net Owner: Wallace Coffey, Bristol, TN
        jwcoffey@xxxxxxxxxx      (423) 764-3958
=========================================================

Other related posts: