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| Sunrise at Smith Point Hawk Watch platform on the Gulf of Mexico. Texas coast |
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| The excitement builds |
Now that you have been to Green Ridge
to take part in the Hawk watch, you have some idea what goes on at a
watch and hopefully they told you about hawk migration. Due to the
size of the western flyway and the many mountain ranges that the
birds can travel, hawk watching never reaches the excitement that is
seen in the east and a good day at Green Ridge would be 150 to 200
birds. East of the Mississippi the hawks mainly follow three
paths, the Mississippi River, the Appalachian Mountain chain and the
east coast. A large majority of the hawks converge on the Gulf Coast
of Texas north of Houston and follow the coast to Mexico.
This week I got to do something I have
wanted to do for some time but never took the time to be in the right
place at the right time. As we head back home to Bend, I couldn't
resist a side trip to Texas and a stop at the Smith Point Hawk Watch.
I had been watching the reports and realized that this weekend
produced counts in the 20,000s for each day with 26,000 Broad-wing
Hawks passing over on Sunday.
The conditions were perfect as the
birds were bunched up and would come to roost in the area waiting for
morning thermals. As the sun warms the air and their wings they rise up by the hundreds and just
start streaming down the coast. The hawk watch platform is right on
the bay on a point of land with hundreds of acres of woods for the
birds to roost in. I was not disappointed.
I arrived just as the sun was coming up
and hawks started immediately coming up. The first thirty or so
birds were all Coopers and Sharp-shined but about 8:30 Dozens of
Broad-winged Hawks started appearing and soon there were kettles of
200 to 500 birds streaming by. I left at about 11:30 and by then I
had seen close to 15,000 raptors!
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| A beautiful dark morph Broad-winged Hawk |
I was watching one kettle just above us
and someone had pointed out a Swainson's Hawk in the group so I found
it and put my camera on the bird for some pictures. From out of
nowhere a Broad-winged Hawk attacked the Swainson's and they locked
talons in a dramatic aerial combat. They were both squawking and
screeching and all the hawk watchers were oohing and awing as I was
firing off shots taking advantage of this great streak of luck. I
would have never gotten these shots if I had not already focused on
the Swainson's Hawk.
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| And off they went like nothing happened. |
We will be going to a couple of
wildlife refuges close by before again turning back north to head
back to Bend. The list should grow considerably and I anticipate some great Texas birds, so I will keep you
posted. I hope you are enjoying the bird of the week and you can see
additional bird pictures and reports on my facebook page. Happy
Birding.
Take a look at this video clip. This went on for several hours as kettle after kettle circled up and headed down the coast.
Take a look at this video clip. This went on for several hours as kettle after kettle circled up and headed down the coast.
More birds for the list:
184 Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Calhoun,
Georgia
185 Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Gadd
Road, Redbank, Tennessee
186 Morning Warbler, Gadd Road,
Redbank, Tennessee
187 Cerulean Warbler, Gadd Road,
Redbank, Tennessee
188 Magnolia Warbler, Chattanooga,
Tennessee
189 Indigo Bunting, Chattanooga,
Tennessee
190 Rose-breasted Grosbeak,
Chattanooga, Tennessee
191 Hermit Thrush, Blue Ridge Parkway,
North Carolina
192 Scarlet Tanager, Blue Ridge
Parkway, North Carolina
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