Corpus Christi (Kiii News) — Over the next few months world renowned Hazel Bazemore County Park in Calallen is the venue of choice for many to see thousands of amazing hawks migrate through on their annual journey south to their winter habitats. Bird watcher Clay Taylor joined us on 3 News First Edition to tell us more!
Between now and mid-November, we hope to count over 1 million hawks and about 22 -24 different species. The actual number counted varies a lot from year to year, depending on the wind directions during key periods in the migration. In the last week of September watch out for Broad-winged Hawks, then later in the fall, tens of thousands of Turkey Vultures pass by, and that is when we watch for eagles, which are pretty rare in the Coastal Bend.
In the fall, west and north winds push the migrating hawks south down to the Gulf coast, and they pass by Hazel Bazemore Park as they make the turn towards Central America. Hawks do not actively flap their wings so they take advantage of these winds to glide without expending lots of energy to get from A to B on their journey. A few years ago, Nueces County built us a wonderful hawk watch platform at the park, so that is where we do the official hawk count
When the hawks are flying in a group, they use rising hot air called thermal upwellings to gain altitude. Inside the thermal the hawks swirl around as they gain altitude – it’s like watching noodles or rice swirling around in a bubbling pot of soup, or a “kettle”. When they reach the top of the thermal lift, they stream out in a line, heading for the next thermal. THAT’S when we count the birds, as they leave the kettle. It takes team work to make sure that all the birds are seen and counted. The most important job for the counters is having consistent counting methods from year to year. That way we can compare the totals from different years and hopefully spot trends.
Throughout the entire season, we usually see 24 or 25 different species. They are grouped into families, so they fall into different kinds of eagles, buteos, falcons, accipiter’s, vultures and kites, and then single families like Ospreys and Harriers. The greatest numbers we see here are Broad-winged Hawks.
First of all, check the weather. Rain is bad. Any wind direction with North in it is good, and we have a rhyme that we use to forecast hawk flight winds - “West is Best, East is Least”. There will be someone there to help you learn how to spot and identify the hawks as they fly by. Bring Binoculars!!!
The Hawk watch site at Hazel Bazemore County Park in Calallen is the place to go check out the hawk migration from mid-August through mid-November
We would like to thank The University of Texas Marine Science Institute and the Coastal Bend Audubon for putting this segment together each month.
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