Berks County-based Hawk Mountain Sanctuary’s official spring migration count kicked off on April 1, and will continue through May 15.

Sanctuary counters, trainees, and volunteers will be stationed at North Lookout with their eyes to the skies, tallying every avian migrant that passes by.

The damp start to April has made for challenging migration, and counting, conditions. Low cloud ceilings and persistent rain kept our spring trainees off the rocks for the first three days of the season!

In between showers and fog, the trainees have counted 302 raptors through April 15th.

Highlights from the 14 species of raptors seen from the lookout include a sub-adult golden eagle observed April 11th and migratory bald eagles and ospreys dodging the local bald eagle pair.

The first broadwing of the season passed the lookout on April 5, and numbers have been gradually increasing with 54 broadwings observed on April 15 giving the current high-count placeholder at 74 migrants.

During the solar eclipse, clouds marred the 95% coverage, but the lookout continued to count sharp-shinned hawks migrating throughout the window.

The weather impeded the non-raptor migrants as well with light movements observed.

A blue-headed vireo was heard calling from the lookout last Friday. Ruby-crowned kinglet, purple finch, northern rough-winged, tree, and barn swallows have been the bulk of the songbird migrant encountered.

Common loon and double-crested cormorant were also moving last week with fantastic views of flocks pushing north.

The day of the eclipse saw 18 common loons pass over the lookout during the morning, including a flock of 8.

Expect a fast influx of songbirds during the next two weeks with peak warbler diversity expected as April shifts into May.

Click Here for the latest Hawkwatch Migration bird counts.

For more information on programs, initiatives and upcoming events, visit the Hawk Mountain Sanctuary website or call 610-756-6961.  Click Here to sign up for regular updates from the Sanctuary, Like them on Facebook, Follow on Twitter, visit them on Flickr and visit their YouTube Channel.  Click Here to support Hawk Mountain.

(Reprinted from the latest Hawk Mountain Sanctuary Migration eUpdate.)

[Posted: April 17, 2024]

4/22/2024