Bob reports 80 migrating raptors today. Broad-winged Hawk 4 Swainson’s Hawk 1 Cooper’s Hawk 2 Mississippi Kite 67 Swallow-tailed Kite 1 American Kestrel 1 Osprey 1 Northern Harrier 3 Lots of swallows and hummingbirds today. Bring it! John and Lynn Wright and Marci Brown helped out today.
Smith Point Hawk Watch 9/8/19 (64 raptors)
Bob reports 64 migrating raptors today. Broad-winged Hawk 9 Red-tailed Hawk 1 Swainson’s Hawk 1 Red-shouldered Hawk 3 Sharp-shinned Hawk 1 Cooper’s Hawk 3 Mississippi Kite 45 Merlin 1 Moderate to strong south winds kept the birds down. Lots of hummers in the morning and some Baltimore Orioles. Regina Tippett helped out today.
Smith Point Hawk Watch 9/7/19 (101 raptors)
Bob reports 101 migrating raptors today. We broke 100! Broad-winged Hawk 47 Red-tailed Hawk 1 Swainson’s Hawk 1 Cooper’s Hawk 2 Mississippi Kite 45 Swallow-tailed Kite 3 American Kestrel 1 Northern Harrier 1 Also seen were a Couch’s Kingbird, Scissor-tailed Flycatchers, Olive-sided Flycatchers, a Trail’s Flycatcher, and possibly a Rufous Hummingbird.
Smith Point Hawk Watch 9/6/19 (64 raptors)
Bob reports 64 migrating raptors today. Broad-winged Hawk 26 Red-tailed Hawk 2 Swainson’s Hawk 1 Mississippi Kite 32 Swallow-tailed Kite 3 The swallows are back! Bob Mitchem and his son helped out today.
Smith Point Hawk Watch 9/5/19 (48 raptors)
Bob reports 48 migrating raptors today. Broad-winged Hawk 40 Cooper’s Hawk 1 Mississippi Kite 5 Swallow-tailed Kite 2 18 Magnificient Frigatebirds overhead made the day! Winnie Burkett helped out today.
Smith Point Hawk Watch 9/4/19 (30 raptors)
Bob reports 30 migrating raptors today. Broad-winged Hawk 16 Cooper’s Hawk 1 Mississippi Kite 11 Swallow-tailed Kite 1 American Kestrel 1 Highlight of the day was the lone Swallow-tailed Kite that soared above the tower for about 30 minutes. Also an alligator growled from the pond!
Smith Point Hawk Watch 9/3/19 (19 raptors)
Justin Bosler covered the count today so Bob could have his day off. Justin reports 19 migrating raptors. Cooper’s Hawk 1 Mississippi Kite 18 Other birds of note: 28 Roseate Spoonbills and a Black-crowned Night-heron.
Smith Point Hawk Watch 9/2/19 (37 raptors)
Bob reports 37 migrating raptors today. Broad-winged Hawk 14 Swainson’s Hawk 5 Cooper’s Hawk 7 Mississippi Kite 11 Although the weather was perfect the birds just didn’t want to move. They will come though! Other birds include 12 Roseate Spoonbills and lots of swallows. The dragonfly show today was nice as well.
Smith Point Hawk Watch 8/31/19 (258 raptors)
Bob reports 258 migrating raptors today. Broad-winged Hawk 15 Red-tailed Hawk 2 Swainson’s Hawk 5 Sharp-shinned Hawk 1 Cooper’s Hawk 2 Mississippi Kite 210 Swallow-tailed Kite 22 Osprey 1 Other birds included 2 Rock Pigeons, a Downy Woodpecker, 12 Magnificent Frigatebirds, 800 Anhingas in the sky at once, and 8 Olive-sided Flycatchers.
Smith Point Hawk Watch 8/30/19 (29 raptors)
Bob reports 29 migrating raptors today. Broad-winged Hawk 5 Swainson’s Hawk 1 Sharp-shinned Hawk 2 Mississippi Kite 13 Swallow-tailed Kite 6 American Kestrel 1 Merlin 1 The first falcons of the season! Also 4 Olive-sided Flycatchers, many Dickcissels and increasing numbers of hummingbirds.
GCBO Bird of the Month – Reddish Egret
Geography/Habitat: Reddish Egret (Egretta rufescens) is uncommon to locally common along the Texas coast year round. Most inland records are post-breeding dispersal of juveniles, but they predominantly stick to the coastal areas. There are records in all regions of Texas, but the Western and Panhandle areas have limited sightings with the exceptions of the West Texas reservoirs. Outside of Texas, … Read More
Smith Point Hawk Watch 8/29/19 (30 raptors)
Bob reports 30 migrating raptors today. Broad-winged Hawk 2 Swainson’s Hawk 2 Cooper’s Hawk 1 Mississippi Kite 16 Swallow-tailed Kite 6 Bald Eagle 1 (adult) Other birds included 10 Roseate Spoonbills, lots of Blue Grosbeaks and Eastern Kingbirds, 2 Yellow Warblers, 2 Upland Sandpipers, and 2 Black-necked Stilts. Marvin Masters helped out today. Thanks Marvin!