|
How
to Watch for Hawks
Toby Gordon
coordinated the Pilot Mountain Hawk Watch from 1991 - 2003.
He put together the following guidelines for effective participation
as a hawk watch observer at Pilot Mountain State Park:
Thank
you for taking the time to count migrating hawks at Pilot
Mountain State Park; your contribution to this project is
valuable. Counting hawks can be exciting - 13 species of raptors
are seen regularly at the Little Pinnacle Overlook and few
spectacles compare with seeing a "kettle" of hundreds of hawks
making their way south.
 Counting
migrants also advances raptor conservation. The data you gather
during the count period will be used to improve our understanding
of raptor populations in North America.
That's
the good news. The bad news is that hawk-watching isn't an
easy activity. Sometimes birds of prey fly close enough to
the Little Pinnacle to be seen easily without binoculars,
but usually more work is required. The following strategies
are offered to help make your time on the mountain as productive
and enjoyable as possible.
Finding
Raptors
 Once
you're onsite and are ready to begin, you might start by scanning.
Scanning means following a pattern to cover a large area with
your binoculars. A good way to start is to look as far NW
as you can and then follow the horizon to the right. Do this
slowly so you can really see what's out there and stop when
you see the edge of the Big Pinnacle. Didn't see any birds?
That's OK, try moving up so you're looking above the horizon
and scan back to your starting point. From here you can raise
your binoculars another field of view and scan again. If scanning
is new to you, practice it a few times because it's a valuable
skill for hawk-watching. If you're covered the north side
of the Big Pinnacle, try the south side.
Suppose
you find a bird while scanning and your want to show it to
the people around you. Instead of lowering your binoculars
and pointing, continue tracking the bird so you don't lose
it. Announce what you see so everyone can look for it and
give landmarks if you can: "I've got a bird here, it's just
below the horizon and passing a silver water tower. I can
just see Highway 52 at the left edge of my field." This should
give others enough information to find your bird and you can
start comparing observations.
 If
you get tired of scanning (guaranteed to happen) try looking
around without binoculars. Look overhead, and look anywhere
where there is good cloud cover -the clouds make it much easier
to see birds. Even while you're eating lunch or talking to
a friend you can look around for the occasional migrant. If
three people are looking at a bird in one direction, look
elsewhere -maybe you'll catch a hawk slipping by. If there
are vultures flying pay attention because migrants often approach
them. If there are no clouds it will be tough to find birds
against the blue sky. Here again, look at the vultures and
you may find other birds.
Potential
Problems
Local
birds can be confusing at the Little Pinnacle. If there are
no migrants passing through the observation area, look around
for locals and try to keep track of them. How to tell them
apart? Migrants generally appear in the north, pass by and
never look back. Occasionally a migrating peregrine falcon
will spend thirty minutes or more checking out the area but
usually migrants just keep going.
Another
potential problem is that birds can appear different in different
wind conditions. A broad-winged hawk riding a thermal on a
hot day bears little resemblance to the same bird on a cold
day with a strong north wind. Just be aware of this and watch
carefully as birds fly through.
 If
you can not identify a bird don't worry about it. There's
nothing wrong with recording a bird as Unidentified Buteo
or just Unidentified. Observe carefully, take your time making
identifications, compare your impressions with other hawk-watchers
and use books.
For reference
in the field I like: Hawks in Flight by Pete Dunne
and A Photographic Guide to North American Raptors
by Wheeler and Clark. If you're interested in the history
of raptor conservation, you might enjoy The Mountain and
the Migration by James Brett.
Another
helpful tool is the Raptor
Identification Chart that was compiled by Peter Zwadyk
of The Blue Ridge Birders. You can view/download a copy here.
Good luck
and thanks again. I hope you see something amazing.
Hawk-watching
in a Nutshell
Finding
Raptors:
- Scan regularly
- Look everywhere because hawks can appear anywhere
- Look overhead too
- look at clouds since they make it easier to see migrants
- If everyone else is looking at the same bird, look elsewhere
you might find something new
- If there are no clouds and it's hard to focus on blue
sky, look at vultures, airplanes, distant mountains; anything
to help your eyes focus.
- Spotting scopes limit you field of view but some people
use them effectively
Once you
have a bird
- Keep your glass on it and give landmarks if possible so
others can locate it
- Take your time making an identification
- In addition to field marks, consider the flying style
of the bird as well as its behavior
- If you see a "kettle" of broad-wings count it as many
times as you can because they often grow or diminish as
birds enter or leave the group
- Keep track of drifting kettles. If a kettle breaks up
near Sauratown Mountain and soon a line of Bws appears overhead,
count them to make sure it's the same group
Potential
Problems
- Local birds can be confusing so take some time to look
for them and exclude them from your count
- Clear blue skies make it difficult to pick out migrants,
make your eyes focus by looking at other things, vultures,
mountains etc.
- Fatigue can reduce your effectiveness so be aware of it.
|
