The Broad-winged hawk count for the weekend was under a hundred for Saturday and Sunday together. Although the total for the count since September 10 th. is over 5,200 Broad-winged Hawks. 

A great way to spend some time in the mountains! 

Plan your calendar a week either side of September 15, 2008.

My friend, Tom Hunter, and I still had a good weekend on a monutain top. 

Tom is a founding member of the Russell Co. (VA) Bird Club and is on the board for the Virginia Society of Ornithology.  He is very good at long range bird identification. Hear his interview below.)

I learned a lot.

You, too, can learn a lot from these nice people:

www.bristolbirdclub.org

Virginia Society of Ornithology

Last Sunday we counted 892 Broad-winged Hawks. Some were very high and hard to see with good binoculars.

It ws a five eagle day too!

I hope you are enjoying this great weather in the mountains.

Here is a link to the HawkCount map with North Carolina hawk migration locations.

http://hawkcount.org/sitesel.php?country=USA&stateprov=North%20Carolina

Can you beleive how fast this year is flying by?  I still have lots of summer things on my “to-do” list.

Speaking of things flying by, one of the things that can not wait is the fall migration of Broadwing hawks.

Contact your local birding group. Find out where they go to count the hawks as they fly over. This is a lot of fun. 

You will learn a lot by just listening to the experienced birders. They will identify and point out the hawks to you. All you have to do is follow along where they are pointing.

Pretty soon you will be able to help them spot birds and help confirm the count.

For the Southern Appalachian Mountains, the broadwing hawk migration is mid September; from the 15 th to the 25th.

One of the best things about going to watch the hawk migration is that they don’t start flying until after 9:00 a.m.  You don’t have to get up at dark-thirty and be at the site before sunup.

Call your local birding group and find out when and where they are going to count the hawks.  You’ll be glad you did.

Here is a birding group that has a very active email list.  I learn a lot from them:

 http://bristolbirdclub.org