Flight of the Broadies - Putney Mtn

Wednesday, September 12, was a banner day for Broad-winged Hawk flight on Putney Mountain with over 1400 birds having been counted by the time I had to leave at 4:00pm.

Kettles of 20 t0 250 birds rose out of the Connecticut River Valley. The birds were often just distant the specks, but their numbers made it look as if Zeus sprinkling pepper from a pepper shaker, spicing up his afternoon meal, and certainly spicing the sky for the hawk watchers.

A few Broad-wings even came over at eye level. Blue sky and bright sun then provided some good photo opportunities ...

Broad-winged Hawk - juvenile

Broad-winged Hawk - juvenile

Broad-winged Hawk - adult

Broad-winged Hawk - adult

Mid-afternoon, eagles drifted lazily over the ridge (eagles plural!). An adult and two sub-adult Bald Eagles dwarfed the circling Broadies nearby ...

Bald Eagle - adult

Bald Eagle (2nd year)

Turkey Vultures wander up and down the ridge, but it is much too early for them to be counted. This one drifted over the ridge, occasionally doing a lazy wing adjustment and providing a different view of this familiar big black bird ...

Turkey Vulture - juvenile

Putney Mountain Hawk Watch also counts Blue Jays, in part because they move early before the hawks have taken to the wing ...

Blue Jay

A day of superb birding! Hope you have a good one today!

Songbirds on Putney Mountain

In addition to some good hawk watching on Putney Mountain, the songbird watching has also been very good. On a recent day I listed about 30 songbirds, some of which even cooperated slightly and allowed me to get some pictures, such as this Black-throated Green Warbler.

Eastern Towhees were hard to confirm as a breeding species in our area, but they do breed in the clearing on the Putney ridge and have been calling throughout the day during September. They stay hidden in the thick brush; pishing gets them riled up, but their appearances are brief. This young bird (or molting female) was feeding on buckthorn berries and gave me a fleeting view.
Yellow-rumped Warblers are abundant, feeding on the many berries, and flycatching on the insect swarms.
Likewise the Cedar Waxwings are abundant, and seem to be limiting their diet entirely to the flying insect swarms.
The chickadees, of course, are common year-round residents, but I never tire of their cheerful calls, and this one posed very nicely for me.

Good Birding!