Gone Hawking

Let's face it, August was lousy. New Jersey was hit with heat, humidity and then, for good measure, an earthquake and a major hurricane.

Let’s put it behind us. September is here and things are looking up.

Literally: It’s the start of the autumn hawk-watching season.

Birds are moving south, from the biggest Canada goose to the smallest hummingbird. If the wind is strong and out of the north they will fly as far as they can before having to stop and refuel.

With luck, the landbirds such as warblers will be in your backyard in the early morning, particularly in trees full of seeds or fruits and getting the first rays of sun. But with all the leaves still on the trees they will be harder to find because they no longer need to proclaim territory or wear gaudy bright mating colors.

Not so the daytime raptors - eagles, vultures, osprey, buteos, falcons and accipiters.

Wait for a warm, sunny day, preferably with some clouds and a strong wind out of the north. Go to a ridge or mountain top and look north. You’ll need your binoculars, a lot of patience and maybe a camp stool. At some point you will see against the clouds some specks that, with a lot of practice, you can identify as one or more of those daytime raptors.

There is a wonderful website, http://hawkcount.org, a compendium of data on hawk watches across the country, including several in New Jersey. It allows you to see how many raptors are seen at a particular hawk watch in a given month (you can also check daily totals).

Not all the sites are kept current but the New Jersey ones that are include Raccoon Ridge in Blairstown, Wildcat Ridge in Rockaway, the Montclair Hawk Lookout in Montclair and Scott’s Mountain at the Merrill Creek Reservoir in Harmony Township, Warren County.

I've been to most of these, but last September I went to one of the oldest hawk watches, Hawk Mountain Sanctuary in Kempton, Pa. You can read more about it at http://www.hawkmountain.org.

Hawk Mountain is such an important place for birders because it offers a unique perspective - bird‘s-eye viewing. You park the car and then you start to climb. There is a lookout relatively low and close to the parking lot, and if you don’t like exerting yourself this is where you can stop.

There was no way I was going to stop on the lower level. Luckily, MH has many years of putting up with me on bird trips. We are not regular climbers but we went slowly up the mountain and I am glad we did. We found many types of warblers and other landbirds in the early morning cool that were so concerned about eating they didn’t mind our presence. They were also lower in the trees or on the ground, which was a relief to our necks.

We continued the climb (there are several places to stop and look out) and it can be very rocky. No sneakers here! This is for birders on a mission, or in my case on a pilgrimage. I was hoping for warblers - hence our early start - but as the day wears on the warming air rising off the cliffs provides the wind beneath a raptor’s wings. That is when many of the birders (including those at the same motel where we stayed) come up.

Be warned: No seats up here, just rocks. The sanctuary website - which you MUST read before visiting - suggests what to bring to make yourself comfortable for a few hours and we had it, including layers of clothing we could remove and sit on, backpacks with food and water, sun screen and, of course, our cameras and binoculars. (Bathrooms are a short climb down from the summit.)

Raptors fly southbound at different times during the fall season. September seems to be the preferred month for broadwings, the smallest of the eastern buteos. Later in the season you will get more diversity as the red-shouldered and redtailed hawks, the osprey, the bald and golden eagles and even other, nonraptor, birds fly south.

We were there on a weekday morning and the place soon filled with people. I am told that in mid-October, especially on the weekends, the crowds are huge.

Some make the pilgrimage every year. I was glad to do it last year and will go again someday, legs willing.

But it's September, so even at home I will continue to look up and be amazed by what I find.