Corpus Christi Caller Times Caller.com - Hawk Watch feeds raptor rapture when bird-lovers meet at migration post

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Tuesday, October 10, 2000

Hawk Watch feeds raptor rapture when bird-lovers meet at migration post

Word came at about 8:30 p.m. Sept. 28: Broadwinged hawks had come down all across the valley and were roosting at Westlake, the second manned Coastal Bend Hawkwatch site, 14 miles due west of the first site at Hazel Bazemore County Park. There was going to be a spectacular lift-off of thousands of birds the next morning.
   What red-blooded birder could resist such an opportunity? It would be early to rise the next morning, come what may.
   The Hawk Watch at Hazel Bazemore Park is now a famous annual occurrence. Birders come from near and far to participate in the watch and help count the raptors that converge over South Texas as they continue their migratory flight south.
   When we arrived, many birders were there before us, and had already set up scopes, chairs and a canopy tent on the open hilltop. Around the edges of the field were areas of mesquite and brush. No hawks were flying yet, but every few yards in the trees and brush were large, brown birds, preening, biding their time. They had spent the night here, roosting in the trees, recovering strength for the next day's journey.
   Waiting in the wings
   Morning ground fog burned off as the sun climbed the blue sky. In the distance, someone sighted a spiral of kettling hawks, circling tentatively, trying to locate an air thermal. A few of the birds around us were restless, stretching their wings. As the sun rose, small groups of circling birds appeared from the north and west. Watchers could enjoy this scene without trying to keep track of numbers because 41,900 birds had been counted as they came down the previous night.
   From trees in nearby fields, birds began to take to the air, climbing with every spiral, each finding a place in the huge migration caravan. They were like troops of military airplanes on a field, lined up on a round runway, awaiting a takeoff signal from the tower. We mere humans standing among them felt twinges in muscles that never evolved into wings. We would have liked to join them, on our own power, traveling high above the earth.
   Other species of birds travel with the broadwings and are also counted. They include peregrine falcons, sharpshinned hawks, Cooper's hawks, American kestrels; also northern harriers, a few red-tailed hawks, white-tailed hawks, and ospreys. Migrating as well are anhingas, wood ibis, white and white-faced ibis, turkey and black vultures. An occasional flock of white pelicans drifts in wide circles, flashing back silver light from their wings, or disappearing as they turn. Roseate spoonbills are usually low enough to show their gorgeous color.
   Birds of a feather
   On Sept. 29 the liftoff climaxed the migration for year 2000. These things cannot be planned and depend on good luck, the weather, and the whims of broadwinged hawks. Celebration of Flight was a successful mix of informative programs including talks by Hawk Watch International director Howard Gross, HWI education director for the Hazel Bazemore Hawk Watch, Thom Benedict, and identification workshops led by Mark Vekasy.
   Michele Setter, curator and raptor rehabilitator for the Texas State Aquarium, brought for display Cleo, a Swainson's hawk, and Scooter, a barn owl. Both are injured birds that cannot be released into the wild. An arriving kettle of broadwingeds interrupted Setter's presentation but Cleo and Scooter didn't turn a feather.
   Another plus at the celebration was a ceremonial blessing of the Hawk Watch by members of the Corpus Christi Native American Association. Their leader, Bear Ferrell, told birders of the significance of raptors to his people. Another member of the group played a ceremonial drum around which feathers were planted in the ground signifying the four directions. Bear spoke of the Native Americans' philosophy that urges all people to respect each other.
   Although this year's celebration is over, the watch will continue to be manned at Hazel Bazemore Park until Nov. 15. The Hawk Watch crew this year consisted of watch coordinator, Joel Simon, and counters Jo Creglow, Scott Rush, Beth Hahn, and many volunteers. For statistics on the watch, consult Website: www.electrotex.com/aoc/hawkwatch.htm.cq
   Wildlife celebration
   From 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Oct. 14, the public is invited to a Celebration of Our National Wildlife Refuges at our own nearest and dearest, Aransas National Wildlife Refuge near Austwell. Sponsors are Coastal Bend Bays Foundation, Sierra Club, and Audubon Outdoor Club of Corpus Christi. Admission is free.
   All kinds of entertainment are scheduled including live animal displays, horseback rides for children, demonstrations of sporting dogs, duck and goose calling, and fly fishing. Also a bicycle ride, photography and environmental workshops, even a street dance from 8:30 p.m. to midnight. For information call (361) 286-3559. Plan to come. While you are here, join Friends of Aransas and Matagorda Island National Wildlife Refuges.


Phyllis Yochem, a Corpus Christi resident, has studied birds of Texas since 1960.

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