Hawkwatch at Big Bald Banding Station

Volunteers conduct raptor migration counts daily from near the summit of Big Bald, weather permitting, from 1000 AM to 1700 PM from the first week in September to early November. Migrating raptors are identified to species and recorded by hour and direction of passage by experienced observers using binoculars and spotting scopes. On days when volunteer manpower is limited, migration observations are made from the raptor trapping station blind. Daily raptor migration flight count totals are submitted to the Hawk Migration Association of North America and these data are made available on their website for public research and raptor population trend analysis (www.hmana.org). Click here to view the Big Bald hawkwatch data on www.hmana.org.

Table 1. Monthly totals of migrating raptors by species, observed in autumn 2010 at Big Bald Hawk Watch, Cherokee National Forest, Unicoi County, Tennessee.
2010	SS	CO	NG	RS	BW	RT	AK	ML	PF	NH	OS	BE	GE	UR	TV	BV	TOT

SEP	159	57	0	1	1832	48	14	14	10	5	10	4	1	45	88	6	2294
OCT	132	36	0	1	2	86	13	13	2	8	1	3	0	33	138	2	470
NOV	0	0	0	0	0	6	0	0	0	2	0	1	0	0	49	0	58

TOTAL	291	93	0	2	1834	140	27	27	12	15	11	8	1	78	275	8	2822
SS=Sharp-shinned Hawk, CO=Cooper’s Hawk, NG=Northern Goshawk, RS=Red-shouldered Hawk, BW=Broad-winged Hawk, RT=Red-tailed Hawk, AK=American Kestrel, ML=Merlin, PF=Peregrine Falcon, NH=Northern Harrier, OS=Osprey, BE=Bald Eagle, GE=Golden Eagle, UR=Unidentified Raptor, TV=Turkey Vulture, BV=Black Vulture.