Big Broad winged Hawk flight

 

Broad winged Hawks, Northampton, MA, Sep 22, 2023

Broad winged Hawks, Northampton, MA, Sep 22, 2023

Broad winged Hawks, Northampton, MA, Sep 22, 2023

Broad winged Hawks, Northampton, MA, Sep 22, 2023

Broad winged Hawks, Northampton, MA, Sep 22, 2023

Broad winged Hawks, Northampton, MA, Sep 22, 2023

Broad winged Hawks, Northampton, MA, Sep 22, 2023

Osprey, Northampton, MA, Sep 22, 2023

Red shouldered Hawk, Northampton, MA, Sep 22, 2023

I capped off a great morning of birding on a vacation day today with an epic raptor experience (more on the last few days of birding in an upcoming post).  As I was about ready to leave after some great birding this morning and head for home, I noticed a small group of Broad winged Hawks starting to kettle up and as I watched more and more birds joined the soaring flock.  This all started a little after ten in the morning and the spectacle continued unabated for the next hour until I finally had to leave.  The sheer volume of birds moving past was impressive and reminded me of photos I have seen from big hawk watch sites well to our south.  During my approximately one hour of watching the skies from a field in Northampton I had 2200+ Broad winged Hawks fly past with almost all passing directly overhead...it was an amazing spectacle to witness.  I use to hawk watch quite a bit in past years and this rivaled any experience I have had on any ridge in the area, especially given the volume of birds passing in a relatively short time.  This count is the highest total I have ever had for Broad winged Hawks in the county and comes close to my best day ever at Mount Tom (in Hampden County) during a multi hour hawk watch on Sept 17, 2007 when I had at least 2850 Broad winged Hawks.  My best count in Hampshire County before today was at Quabbin Park back on Sept 27, 2006 when I had 1187 passing over in the afternoon following days of bad migration conditions.  In addition to the Broad winged Hawks I had other raptors moving past including half a dozen Osprey, at least half a dozen Northern Harriers, Cooper's Hawks, Sharp shinned Hawks, a few Red shouldered Hawks plus a few American Kestrel (including one that tried to grab a Monarch midflight) and a lucky 13 Turkey Vultures.  I wonder how many total birds came past before I started looking and after I had to leave.