Adams Farm Hawk Watch, Athol, MA Spring 2023
Thanks to Mark Morris, Eric Mueller, Chris, Eddy, Joanne Hart, Paul Roberts, and others for bringing the Eastern Mass Hawkwatch (EMHW) to Athol. We had a wonderful spring at Adams Farm meeting many new friends and revisiting with many others after our long Covid isolation. We can’t wait to gather this fall at Wachusett Mountain for the return migration and we will be back at Adams Farm next Spring with renewed enthusiasm to watch the movement of raptors unfold. Below is Mark Morris’s report to EMHW. Thanks Mark for this interesting and complete report.
The official dates for this season’s hawk watch at Adams Farm were set to be March 20 to May 7, but for Eric Mueller, Chris Eddy and myself, it really started on March 8.
That evening, the three of us gave a presentation about hawk migration at the Athol Bird and Nature Club (ABNC). The purpose was to raise awareness of and create local interest and participation in this hawk watch in the ranks of the club and beyond. This turned out to be an excellent decision as David Small (President of ABNC for the past forty years), Jeff Johnstone, Ernie LeBlanc and many others joined forces with Eastern Mass Hawk Watch (EMHW) members to create a formidable team of spotters that accounted for over 2,300 migrating raptors this Spring! We also viewed a smorgasbord of local eagles, vultures, hawks and falcons that kept us all entertained as we watched for the migrants.
On the opening day of this season’s hawk watch, we were treated to an excellent start with 47 migrants, including 7 Sharp-shinned Hawks. The crew was able to identify nine different raptor species along with scads of Ravens, Common Crows, and a Fish Crow. Adams Farm has proven to be not only an excellent platform from which to spot migrating birds and raptors, but equally as good as a place to observe raptor behavior and test everyone’s identification skills of immature, mature and molting birds.
Highlights in early April included Chris Eddy and me getting a thrilling close look at a Gray Ghost Northern Harrier that appeared just over the solar array to our left! He subsequently rose and joined forces with a Sharp-shinned Hawk and headed north…what a spectacular bird! April 6th saw our first (and early) single Broad-winged Hawk. And earlier that morning, appearing out of the fog from the south, a genuine Sandhill Crane flew by, just over the tree tops. This would be the first of three Sandhills recorded on the count this spring.
April 18th was an awesome day to be a hawk watcher. Eric Mueller and I pulled into the parking lot at the farm around the usual start time of 8:30am. We started our normal routines of grabbing gear and layering up for the day when I looked up and spotted three Broad-winged Hawks migrating under the cloud deck. The birds were moving early! We started texting and emailing other members of the hawk watch as the internet came alive with reports of large groups of Broad-wings on the move in various places around the state. Soon, the crew showed up to witness big streams and kettles of migrating hawks. Everyone there was treated to a show, as no one amongst us had ever seen such large groups in the spring. The Broad-wings were not the only players that day as we had 18 Sharp-shinned Hawks, 7 Osprey, and 3 Merlin as well, with a final tally of 605 migrating raptors for the day.
April 24th was another exciting and rewarding day. At about noon, Broad-wings started to get up and moving north; singles and doubles to start, and then a kettle of sixteen. The flood gates opened after that as Joanne Hart (easily our best spotter this spring), Jeff Johnstone, and I watched a “river of hawks” develop over the cell tower just east of the farm store. I had Joanne focus her binoculars over the cell tower and just start counting while I logged the data. In a one-hour period, between 12:08 and 1:08 PM we had 487 Broad-wings come through! There were other raptors migrating in this “river” at the same height and direction, including Bald Eagles and Osprey, for a total of 544 birds.
The migrating birds and raptors that were observed this spring were fantastic, but this was only half of the story. The people – all the great people – who took time out of their lives to help this endeavor be successful and exceedingly enjoyable was truly awesome! Hanging out with the ABNC crew and our EMHW members daily, you get to know people and have fun telling stories and talking about life’s topics. The good karma was spread, and guiding people on hawk identification and behavior became standard as I thought we all got better in that regard. Sharing knowledge was not limited to the hawk watch members; many customers of Adams Farm were very interested in the event as Eric, Chris and I became “ambassadors” of the sport as we handed out Hawk Migration Association of North America (HMANA) brochures and cards for those who were interested.
This was such an incredible experience this spring, and one I will never forget. I want to give a special thank you to Eric Mueller whose tireless reporting and computer savvy has been and will be an invaluable and vital cog for the watch. Simply, there is no official spring hawk watch at Adams Farm without Eric. Thank you David Small for being the perfect liaison between ABNC and EMWH and for all the behind the scenes activity to promote participation in the spring’s watch, and your consistent attendance this spring. Thank you to Joanne “Jo Jo” Hart for her impressive spotting and attendance as well. I also want to thank Chris Eddy for her unflappable enthusiasm and positivity. Thank you to Chelsea White, Clare Barnes and Rick Adams, co-owners of Adams Farm, for their accommodating nature, their patience and understanding of what we are doing, and the vital access to their property that they provide to us. For those reading this article, please visit the Adams Farm store – buy a rib eye steak, some blocks of suet, or a jar of pickled eggs (I got a bit addicted to those myself!).
I salute all of the observers, both occasional and regular, for making a difference this spring. They are:
Arnie Bergeron, Deb Bergeron, Dave Brown, Anne Cervantes, Glen Chretien, Lori Chretien, Bryan Difabio, Chris Eddy, Steve Farrell, Danielle Fauci, Dave Gates, Jean Hampel, Lynn Harper, Joanne Hart, Bonnie House, Jeff Johnstone, Sherry Johnstone (who also supplied the Hawk Watchers with some world class bagels!), Pam Landry, Ernie LeBlanc, Greg McGuane, Eric Mueller, Mike Plotkin, Paul Roberts, Jon Skinner, Juliana Skinner, David Small, Juliana Venderwielen, Greg Watkevich, AND the participants in the ABNC Friday morning outings, led by Jeff Johnstone.
This spring, each and every one listed above played a part and contributed to this final report!
Sincerely,
Mark D Morris
Site Coordinator
Adams Farm Spring Hawk Watch