Every year I start off the Landis Arboretum Family Programs (see http://www.LandisArboretum.org) with a Spring Hawk Watch. This year’s watch looked to be a great one, with a clear sunny day and temperatures in the 70’s predicted. It turned out to be a wonderful day to be outside, although there weren’t as many hawks as hoped for.
The Arboretum looks out to the east and south over the Schoharie River. With the north flowing river being a natural migration corridor for hawks and its incredible views the Arboretum is a nice place to catch glimpses of hawks on their northward journey. Unfortunately today didn’t provide as many hawks as in the past. I am not sure that the unseasonably warm weather was to blame. Actually it’s more likely the steady winds from the west may have been more the reason. In any case there weren’t as many hawks as we’ve had on good days in the past, but as the saying goes, “A bad day birding beats a good day at the office.”
The highlight of the day was the sighting of at least 2 bald eagles, one an adult and the other a juvenile, probably a second year bird. There may have been a third eagle, since a second adult was seen after the first in a different location (both were flying up river – southward). I am wondering if these birds may be nesting somewhere near the Arboretum along the Schoharie River.
We also observed four broad-winged hawks and three osprey. All of these birds were flying strongly northward and thus seemed to be migrating through to their northerly nesting territories.
A number of red-tailed hawks were observed flying about in many different directions. None seemed to be moving strongly northward which makes me think that these hawks are resident birds moving about their territories here in the Schoharie Valley.
Rounding out our observations were a kestrel, a sharp-shinned hawk and a variety of unidentifiable raptors, buteos and accipiters. These unidentifiable hawks were quite a distance out, very likely pushed off the ridge that the Arboretum sits on by the predominately westerly breeze that blew consistently through out the day.
There were many other birds in evidence today, either seen or heard. You can’t spend a day looking for hawks without keeping track of these Arboretum visitors also. The most unusual was a barred owl that was heard hooting. When we first heard it we didn’t believe our ears. So I hooted back and to our amazement it responded. Here is an overall list of the 34 species of birds spotted or heard on this day.
Canada goose
mallard
turkey vulture
osprey
bald eagle
broad-winged hawk
red-tailed hawk
American kestrel
barred owl
red-bellied woodpecker
yellow-bellied sapsucker
downy woodpecker
northern flicker
eastern phoebe
blue jay
American crow
common raven
tree swallow
black capped chickadee
tufted titmouse
red-breasted nuthatch
eastern bluebird
American robin
yellow-rumped warbler
eastern towhee
chipping sparrow
song sparrow
northern cardinal
rose-breasted grosbeak (female)
eastern meadowlark
common grackle
brown-headed cowbird
purple finch
American goldfinch
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