Tuesday - Putney Mountain

Tuesday at the Putney Mountain Hawk Watch was a day of eye strain, with most hawks only distant specks. A good viewing sky helped, but it was nothing like the two previous days when most hawks were relatively low and close. But we still tallied over 280 migrants.

It's always fun when school groups visit the watch, and these kids were fortunate to see some of the low flyers. anything we can do to encourage the next generation of bird watchers is worth the effort ... and the enthusiasm of many of the kids is infectious.

The hawks may have been high, but the ravens were playing along the ridge, and that is always fun to watch.

This juvenile Cooper's Hawk was one bird that came low and provided a good look at all of the features which distinguish it from the other accipiters - large head, arthritic wing beat, rounded tail ...

Finally ... our resident Red-tailed Hawk wandering along the ridge in the late afternoon (rather flat wings with up-turned fingers at the wing-tips) ...

Good birding!