Montclair Hawkwatch

The Fall 2021 season at Montclair got off to a rough start this Wednesday, September 1st as the remnants of Hurricane Ida started to hit the region in the early morning. A lone, intrepid Merlin, flying close over the watch during a pause in the rain, was the first recorded…...

The second half of this unique 2020 season had its share of challenges but was also a boon of amazing observations. Bad weather continued through the last two weeks of October and caused us to miss a few days; despite this, these proved to be two of our best weeks…...

The weather was tough this week with Monday and Friday being washed out and Tuesday’s count being delayed; however, migration continued and our cast of characters shifted a bit to reflect the changing season. Turkey Vultures are dominating the scene while the ratio of Sharp-shinned to Cooper’s Hawks is widening…...

The morning of October 5th was dominated by songbirds as noisy flocks of Pine Siskins and Purple Finches bounced past the watch, a sure sign of the season. As the day went on, the finches quieted down and any shred of cloud cover left us. This made for a challenging…...

Saying Goodbye to September and Remembering a Montclair Icon As we round out the month of September, we reluctantly say goodbye to peak season for Broad-winged Hawks. This week’s total was just 51 individuals. What was a down week for raptors overall hosted a large diversity of songbirds including many…...

As we round out the fourth week of the 2020 fall season, it’s clear that we have reached the beginning of the end for Broad-winged Hawk migration. We’ve had a couple decent Broad-wing movements but numbers are still low compared to previous years; here’s hoping for a good day or…...