Wind, Thermals and Hawk Flight

I'm still looking for a definable relationship between wind and
> thermals and hawk appearance.
>
> What else do I need?
>
> bj


Wind is so variable that it can’t be reduced to a viable factor. I have never believed that wind had an influence on hawk migration when it was at or less than a Beaufort scale of 2. Wind at low velocities is caused by several factors but it is never constant over long distances unless it is influenced by a high pressure system immediately following the passage of a significant cold front.
The wind you may record at the lookout may only be the result of a thermal building in the vicinity. Depending on where the thermal builds relevant to your position the wind you record may just be the air flowing into the thermal build-up to replace the air generated upward by the thermal build-up.
There are other factors affecting the direction of light winds but those factors do not lend themselves to a constant wind from a constant direction. Forget light winds and consider them all as light and variable. The word variable is the key.
I have always considered the fact that the hawk’s brain is very small. I remember my peers at an early age calling me “birdbrain.” The meaning was clear. Birds were stupid and some humans were so stupid that their brains must be as small as those of the birds. In my adult life I have found that modern scientists still believe in the size of the brain as a measure of the intelligence of the individual possessing that brain.
The southbound hawk has no idea of where to go other than south or perhaps southwest if you subscribe to the earth’s magnetic field as the determining factor for the direction of migration. The hawk only knows to soar and glide south to find another thermal to soar upon. Sometimes it doesn’t glide south as it gets confused by a nearby thermal that is east or perhaps west. But, eventually the urge to fly south overcomes all these interruptions and the hawk generally flies in a general direction of south.
The southbound hawk doesn’t give a royal crap about variable winds.
During the time that variable winds are blowing, thermals are booming. It is the thermals the hawk is after and not the winds. The hawk’s minute brain can discern and determine a path for migration that includes thermals but not a path that includes variable winds. All hawks migrating in the absence of the passage of a significant cold front are migrating by soaring up on thermals and gliding to the next thermal in the general direction they wish to go, which is south.
When a significant cold front passes the winds will be constantly from the westerly direction and they will be strong enough to produce ridge lift as they blow across the ridges. Then the puny brained hawks will sense another means of soaring flight in the direction they wish to go, which is south. Then the hawks will congregate along the ridges and the hawkwatchers will ooh and aah as they pass in great numbers. And, if the westerly winds prevail throughout the peak of the migration season the hawkwatchers will have record numbers to ooh and aah over.
Just remember that those same westerly winds blow over flat country where no ridges offer the advantage of ridge lift. Yet the hawkwatchers in those regions still have much to ooh and aah over. The hawks can soar and glide regardless of the lack of ridges. Consider yourself lucky to have a ridge to watch from.
You should only be concerned with a wind that is constant in strength and direction. All those light and variables don’t amount to a hill of ..... . They should be recorded but they should be ignored as an important factor in the migration on the days they occur.
All of the foregoing is from my perspective and I will entertain any notion contradicting my perspective. But I warn you, it had better be good.

DJ