White Memorial Hawk Watch Sets New Records on September 16, 2013

Several hawk species, mostly Broadwing Hawk (Buteo platypterus), migrated in a massive push on Monday 16 September 2013 through southern New England and the northern Mid-Atlantic states.  The conditions were just right for this event.  A cold front progressed through the area from the northwest bringing with it a steady northwest wind and a short break in the cloud cover.  The front also pushed out a blanket of clouds that were in the area in the early morning. The hawks were observed taking flight as soon as the cloud cover started to break up!  The clear sky lasted for only a few hours but it was long enough for the ground to heat up thereby creating thermals or up-welling pockets of hot air that the birds ride upward gaining altitude.  There was a steady stream of birds coalescing into kettles consisting of hundreds of birds.  New kettles were forming every 5 minutes in the sky.  Our counters for the day included James Fischer, Jared Franklin, and Kelly Lawlor.  They observed a total of 2608 birds for the day, which is a record number of birds in one day for the White Memorial Hawk Watch site.  Several other Hawk Watch sites observed similar conditions and it is presented to you below.  The following images show the hourly satellite imagery and progressing cold front.  The number of birds observed at each station is illustrated for each Hawk Watch.  You can see for yourself the massive wave of birds that moved through the area in just a few short hours!

10:00 a.m. EST  The clouds were just starting to break and birds took to the skies!

11:00 a.m. EST  The wind picked up speed due to the advancing cold front
bringing with it clear skies and lots of birds!

12:00 p.m. EST  A steady queue of birds were observed at nearly every
Hawk Watch site throughout western Connecticut and southern New York.

1:00 p.m. EST  A few birds could still be observed as clouds were moving in from the northwest.

2:00 p.m. EST  White Memorial Hawk Watch calls it a day after observing a total of 2608 birds!

3:00 p.m. EST  Many of the birds were now being observed and counted in northern New Jersey.

	Number of Hawks Observed Each Hour at Selected Northeastern U.S. Stations
Hawk Watch Station	9:00 AM	10:00 AM	11:00 AM	12:00 PM	1:00 PM	2:00 PM	3:00 PM	Total
Russell, MA	11	515	446	20	51	1	0	1044
Torrington, CT	184	2798	555	754	121	39	0	4451
Litchfield, CT	0	240	1173	824	322	0	0	2559
Bridgewater, CT	0	23	1039	1582	565	702	13	3924
Bedford, NY	0	5	19	3859	2228	2476	0	8587
Montclair, NJ	0	0	19	139	1076	934	1323	3491
Fort Washington, PA	0	0	0	16	58	105	1354	1533