[texbirds] Hawk liftoff in Corpus Christi on Friday morning?

From: Clay Taylor <Clay.Taylor@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "texbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <texbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Thu, 4 Apr 2013 23:33:24 -0400
Hi all -

When I saw the note about oodles of warblers at Rose Hill Cemetary, I was 
finishing up chores at home, so I decided to see whether they were also hitting 
Pollywog Ponds.   The winds were coming out of the NW, so I was not expecting 
to see many new warblers.

I was right.    Hmmm....hate it when that happens.   Well, there were warblers, 
of course, but no new species, and no big flocks working their way through the 
woods.

That was still OK, as I wanted to get a feel about how the dynamics of warbler 
migration work from the coast (Port Aransas) then 10 miles inland to downtown 
CC (Blucher Park and Rose Hill Cemetery) to Pollywog Ponds and Hazel Bazemore 
Park, another 15 miles farther west. 

I did finally see a Red-eyed Vireo, which was the 199th bird for my 2013 Local 
Patch list.  Nice!

What the winds DID bring were raptors - LOTS of Broad-winged Hawks.   They were 
crossing over the woods, then milling around as if they were trying to decide 
whether to leave the trees along the Nueces River and take a chance at crossing 
a lot of open land to the North and Northwest.    Even at 4pm, there were birds 
setting down in the woods around me.   At 4:03, a dark-morph Broad-winged Hawk 
passed by, but I could not get my camera on it in time.  Rats!

The flights continued, and I was hoping to get a Mississippi Kite for Patch 
Bird #200, but all I was seeing were Broadies and vultures.   I was pleased to 
see two Sharp-shinned Hawks slide by, drawing comments from the local birds.   
Later, about 5:30 - 5:45, the flocks became mixed, as there were a few 
Swainson's Hawks coming through.   The birds were a lot lower, and as I walk 
sped the paths there were Broadies fleeing from the treetops.

I finally came back to the entrance, having given up on finding the Mississippi 
and intending to leave for home.   However, I could not resist stopping to 
digiscope the Scissor-tailed Flycatchers chowing down on the mulberries, so I 
stopped.   Good thing, because a few minutes later, the OTHER big-tailed 
aerialist showed up - a adult SWALLOW-TAILED KITE for #200!   Outstanding!

It was pretty low, so I would not be surprised to see it and a few thousand 
Broadies lift off out of the Nueces River system on Friday morning.   They will 
certainly be coming out of Pollywog Ponds, but also you can bet on Hazel 
Bazemore Park, County Road 73, and probably points west out toward Lake Corpus 
Christi.

Which place to choose?    Are you feeling lucky?    

Clay Taylor
Calallen (Corpus Christi) TX
Clay.taylor@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

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[texbirds] Hawk liftoff in Corpus Christi on Friday morning?

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