Hawkwatch & Picnic on Blueberry Hill

Today we held the annual joint hawk watch and picnic of the Allen Bird Club (Springfield) and Hoffmann Bird Club (Berkshires). Also on hand were several members of the Massachusetts Audubon Society (Arcadia Sanctuary) led by Patti Steinman and Dan Russell. Many seasoned observers were among the 30 or so persons present, and everyone helped with spotting birds in a difficult sky.

The sky was cloudless but hazy until noon EDT; cumuli developed in the afternoon, increasing from 10% to 35% of the sky. Wind persisted all day from the NE, but very light, never exceeding 6 mph. Temperature 66-78 F.

All enjoyed a varied and interesting, but far from massive, flight. The largest kettle of Broadwings was only 17 hawks; many flew extremely high and at the limit of observation. Seven Harriers is a high turnout for Blueberry Hill; one was a gray ghost. Eight unidentified raptors is a high number for one day at the site — an indication of the difficulty of making out distant birds through the veil of haze. Not counted as migrants: 2 Turkey Vultures, 2 Bald Eagles (adult and juvenile), Cooper's Hawk, Red-shouldered Hawk, 2 Red-tails (adult and immature).

Non-raptors identified were Mourning Dove, Rock Pigeons (ca. 25), Downy Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Pileated Woodpecker (dazzling flyby), Eastern Phoebe, Blue Jays (2), Common Raven, Black-capped Chickadees (2), Tree Swallow, Cedar Waxwings (ca. 20), Eastern Bluebirds (10), American Goldfinch, Eastern Towhee, American Redstart, Prairie Warbler, Scar-let Tanager (f), Northern Cardinal.

Most of the participants also got their first view of the granite memorial bench placed at the hawkwatch site by the Allen Bird Club to honor the contributions of Seth Kellogg to the club and to remember his dedication to recording hawk migration here for many decades.