[texbirds] Smith Point Hawk Watch today or who knew turkey vultures spin silk

  • From: Joseph Kennedy <josephkennedy36@xxxxxxxxx>
  • To: 4 Texbirds Maillist <texbirds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Mon, 9 Nov 2015 18:08:35 -0600

Went out to smith point today with a nice north wind and had good numbers
of hawks, land birds and big water birds.
During the afternoon, large strands of silk started to fall out of the
sky. I left in mid pm to beat traffic through Houston and stopped to watch
a kettle of turkey vultures to check for tagged Canadian birds. Discovered
that the silk at the tower had been coming from the vultures who were
leaking silk from their wings. Most of the birds in the kettle had some
silk and others had several strands. Very interesting discovery as
illustrated in this picture with several silk streams. Sure looked like the
vultures were spinning silk from their wings.

http://www.pbase.com/joseph_kennedy_36/image/161813538

Did not see much on the way down from I-10 but a young bald eagle was going
west a short ways below White Park. A small clump of red-tailed hawks was a
little north of Whitehead's place and the area also had roosting migrant
turkey vultures.

Starting about a quarter to nine, hawks and then turkey vultures started
passing. Good numbers of broad-winged and swainson's hawks along with both
accipiters, harriers, kestrels and lots of turkey and a few black vultures.
Several different red-tailed hawks seen and very noisy local red-shouldered
hawks.

A single crested caracara came in, climbed up high and had a severe tussle
with first a broad-winged hawk and then a red-shouldered hawk. The caracara
eventually went back north but it had ulterior motives against the hawks.

Two bald eagles added to the show. One had a sorta white head and tail and
the other was young with white on the underside.

Out Hawkins Camp road early, there were my first of the fall eastern
goldfinches, water pipits and a bunch of palm warblers. Calling sedge and
marsh wrens but sparrows were suppressed by several hunting cooper's hawks
and northern harriers.

At the tower a magnolia warbler was near the water, a Sprague's pipit
squeak-squeaked overhead along with several American pipits. Bluebirds
called overhead during much of the day but were hard to see; several did
land in front of the tower. Several large American robin flocks passed and
perched. Lots of swallows up there split between barn, rough-winged and
tree.

White pelicans were the migrant of the day especially in the pm as flocks
got larger. White ibis were still passing and a flock of snow and
white-fronted geese had 3 northern pintails. Several anhinga and wood
storks up there too.

Later my first of the fall song sparrow called out by the bay and there
were numbers of savannah sparrows on the fences early.

A banded piping plover with a green flag at Robbins park is probably the
same bird I had last year but I need to check.

The wind shift from north to southwest a little before noon really slowed
down the birds but vultures were still trying to figure out where get out
of town and the large pelican flocks.

A really great day out there for the end of the season.

--
Joseph C. Kennedy
on Buffalo Bayou in West Houston
Josephkennedy36@xxxxxxxxx


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  • » [texbirds] Smith Point Hawk Watch today or who knew turkey vultures spin silk - Joseph Kennedy