Best spring day for Broad winged Hawks I have ever had

 

Broad winged Hawk, Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, Apr 18, 2023

Broad winged Hawk, Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, Apr 18, 2023

Broad winged Hawk, Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, Apr 18, 2023

Broad winged Hawk, Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, Apr 18, 2023

Broad winged Hawks, Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, Apr 18, 2023

Bald Eagle, Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River, Hadley, MA, Apr 18, 2023

When I headed out to do a little birding after work I didn't expect or intend to do a hawk watch that produced my highest total for Broad winged Hawks in the spring I have ever had in both Hampshire County and the entire state.  I arrived at Silvio Conte NWR-Fort River with mainly overcast and cool conditions with a decent westerly breeze blowing.  I was initially just going to scan a few water bodies for any waders (or other stuff) that might be around before going elsewhere to try for some early season warblers.  However almost as soon as I arrived I noticed a couple small kettles of Broad winged Hawks lifting off from nearby roosting locations.  As I continued to see more and more Broad winged Hawks and other raptors starting to move I decided to relocate myself to a spot that gave me a better view of the sky and I started counting.  The birds steadily increased and kettles both small and large started to form with birds moving both low and high working steadily northeast.  Although the main show was Broad winged Hawks for sure, other raptors were also moving with a total of ten species including a large number of Bald Eagles for the date.  Other birds were also moving northeast from Double crested Cormorants to Great Blue Herons to Red winged Blackbirds and American Goldfinches.  I ended up spending over two hours watching the show and by the end I had seen at least 1022 Broad winged Hawks and I missed many as it was tough to keep track of birds moving all around at all different heights.  The biggest movement was within the first hour and a half or so.  As mentioned above this total scattered my previous best totals for the spring in both the county (my previous best spring total being 303 on April 25, 2006) and the state (previous best was 669 on April 23, 2007 on Mount Tom in Holyoke).  It was really a great morning with so many raptors plus some other cool stuff around.  I captured a few videos of the spectacle and they can be found at the following links (video #1 and video #2).