What an amazing turnout at the Smith Point Hawk Watch Celebration, with a total of 150 guests! A lot of old and new friends came together in support of these amazing animals. Many connections were made, and we thank our wonderful guest and vendors for coming out! Now on to recent events; it’s the BRRR season, as in it’s getting … Read More
Smith Point Hawk Watch – October 2nd-16th Blog Post
It’s officially Fall! While we are still experiencing some hot days; the mornings have been a nice, low 70 degrees. With the arrival of cooler temperatures and favorable thermal conditions, the sky is filled with birds riding the currents as they make their incredible journey to their next destination! These past few weeks alone have been filled with incredible sightings, … Read More
Smith Point Hawk Watch – September 1st-15th Blog Post
September is here and that means so are the raptors! Counts started out a bit slow due to the weather, but by the 8th of this month there was a big influx of species. The highest numbers we have seen so far have been Broad-Winged Hawks reaching close to the 800s and Mississippi Kites skyrocketing to close to 1000 individuals. … Read More
SPHW – August Blog Post
It’s that time of the year again – the great fall hawk migration is in full swing! Our fantastic hawk counter Bob has returned to join our flock, and has already recorded a variety of species. As usual, during the beginning of the fall season the numbers have been a bit slow. Don’t let this discourage you, as we have … Read More
Smith Point Hawk Watch 2023 Final Report
The 2023 Smith Point Hawk Watch was a great success! We had record numbers of migrating raptors and plenty of other species passing through. Thanks to Bob Baez, our 2023 counter, for writing the season report. Click here to check it out!
Smith Point Hawk Watch 2022
Howdy all. The Smith Point Hawk Watch started yesterday! Bob is back and the raptors are coming. This year we are going to try something different. Bob is inputting the data electronically onto the hawkcount.org website hourly so you can look there for updates. Go to hawkcount.org, on the menu down the left side under “data summaries” pick “daily”. Then … Read More
Smith Point Hawk Watch 11/30/21 (33 raptors)
Bob reports 33 migrating raptors today. Turkey Vulture 20 Osprey 1 Northern Harrier 5 Cooper’s Hawk 1 Broad-winged Hawk 3 Red-tailed Hawk 2 Merlin 1 It was a great last day at the hawk watch today. Blue skies with lots of clouds made looking for birds easy. Amid the scores of Turkey Vultures we found a few raptors still making … Read More
Smith Point Hawk Watch 11/29/21 (74 raptors)
Bob reports 74 migrating raptors today. Turkey Vulture 65 Northern Harrier 1 Sharp-shinned Hawk 1 Bald Eagle 2 Broad-winged Hawk 5 North winds all day! 460 Greater White-fronted Geese were outdone by 480 Snow Geese!
Smith Point Hawk Watch 11/28/21 (34 raptors)
Bob reports 34 migrating raptors today. Turkey Vulture 30 Northern Harrier 1 Sharp-shinned Hawk 1 Cooper’s Hawk 1 Bald Eagle 1 Winds were moderate out of the north but it was low overcast. There was some clearing in the 10:00 hour which brought a few birds but it clouded up again and all flight stopped. A feeding flock of about … Read More
Smith Point Hawk Watch 11/26/21 (253 raptors)
Bob reports 253 migrating raptors today. Black Vulture 29 Turkey Vulture 170 Northern Harrier 3 Sharp-shinned Hawk 12 Cooper’s Hawk 7 Bald Eagle 2 Broad-winged Hawk 20 Red-tailed Hawk 8 Peregrine Falcon 2 North winds all day brought more birds! 280 Red-breasted Mergansers, 3 Ross’s Goose, 200 Greater White-fronted Goose, 2 Marbled Godwit and a dark Broad-winged Hawk. Winnie Burkett, … Read More
Smith Point Hawk Watch 11/25/21 (1 raptor)
Bob reports one migrating Northern Harrier today. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!