Oystercatcher Diaries 2022: Week of January 31, 2022

By Susan Heath It’s time! They oystercatchers have begun to nest and we’ve checked on them a couple of times. We went out the West Galveston Bay on January 13 to see if any pairs had changed. Amazingly they were all the same for the ones that were present. Then on January 27, we went back and found the first … 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 11/23/21 (50 raptors)

Winnie reports 50 migrating raptors today.j Black Vulture 1 Turkey Vulture 43 Sharp-shinned Hawk 1 Cooper’s Hawk 1 Broad-winged Hawk 2 Red-tailed Hawk 1 White-tailed Kite 1

Smith Point Hawk Watch 11/22/21 (176 raptors)

Bob reports 176 migrating raptors today. Turkey Vulture 116 Osprey 2 Northern Harrier 6 Sharp-shinned Hawk 14 Cooper’s Hawk 8 Bald Eagle 2 Broad-winged Hawk 17 Red-tailed Hawk 9 American Kestrel 2 North winds all day. 800 Snow Geese, 5 White Ibis, and the north winds exposed some mudflat out in the bay and there were 17 Dunlin, 8 Sanderling, … Read More

Smith Point Hawk Watch 11/21/21 (6 raptors)

Bob reports 6 migrating raptors today. Northern Harrier 1 Sharp-shinned Hawk 4 Bald Eagle 1 The wind was moderate from the SE and there were nice clouds but the birds did not come. Six Red-breasted Mergansers, a feeding flock of about 2,000 cormorants and a dolphin out in the bay kept Bob entertained.

Smith Point Hawk Watch 11/20/21 (271 raptors)

Bob reports 271 migrating raptors today. Turkey Vulture 253 White-tailed Kite 1 Northern Harrier 9 Sharp-shinned Hawk 3 Cooper’s Hawk 5 Red-tailed Hawk 1 The wind was out of the E but switched to the SE in the afternoon. Other birds of note were Chipping and Vesper Sparrows. Joe Kennedy helped out today.