Athol Hawk Watch – Spring 2026 Season

Ted Purcell (in front) , and (left-to-right) David Brown, Eric Mueller, Julie Brown with her dog Maggie, Mark Morris, Joe Fountain, Joanne Hart and Tom Gottschang

End of season update from Lead Hawk Watch Counter, Mark Morris:

Special thanks to observers David Brown, Joe Fountain, Tom Gottschang, Joanne Hart, Ernie Leblanc, Jack Miano, Eric Mueller, Ted Purcell, and Jon Skinner. Outstanding performance day in and day out by continually showing up, providing exceptional coverage, and helping the Adams Farm Hawk Watch become one of the best Spring sites regionally! A total of 39 observers participated this Spring to help find and identify migrating Raptors. Here are the other 30 observers: Zack Bouricius, Julie Brown, Elizabeth Cassinari, Scott Carlson,  Cliff Cook, Leslie Cramer, Brian Difabio, Chris Eddy, John Edmundson, Steve Farell, Tom Graham, Dave Graham, Jean Hampel, Kim Hewitt, Jeff Johnstone, Connie Lentz, Amy Loveless, Joan Lupacchino, Bob Mallet, Greg McGuane, Judy McGuane, Judd Nathan, Jan Neri, Rich Nieman, Betzy Pelz, Tom Pirro, Eric Reidy, David Small, Scott Wahlstrom, and Andrew Whitacre. Special Thanks to John Edmundson, Judd Nathan, and Ted Purcell for posting all of the wonderful pics of the different species and actions of our Raptors. A picture is worth 1000 words!  Special thanks to Julie Brown; Program Director for HMA; for her exciting visit. She was impressed with both the potential of the site, and with our entire team. By posting her visit nationally on the HMA newsletter for May, It gives Adams Farm such credibility as a great place to observe our Raptors.

Overall, we had increasing total numbers of migrating Raptors for most of our species, and increased our observation hours to nearly 300. Turkey Vultures, Osprey, Northern Harrier, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Cooper’s Hawk, Red-shouldered Hawk, Broad-winged Hawk, and American Kestrel were up in numbers. Bald Eagles and Red-tailed Hawks were about the same. Merlin were slightly down, and we did squeak out a Peregrine Falcon.  Sadly, no American Goshawks, Rough-legged Hawks, or Golden Eagles were recorded this Spring.

This brings us to the topic of that fickle migrating creature, the Broad-winged Hawk. Looking at our number of 2,634 individuals this Spring, I am perplexed even more why we were able to record only 966 Birds last year. Bradbury Mt. recorded their best year in 2025, including 3,841 Broad-wings while we struggled. To date, Adams Farm is leading Bradbury as it has recorded only 1,328 Broad-wings. I wish I knew why, but I guess these wonders keep us all coming back.

It was such a pleasure to serve once again as site coordinator at Adams Farm and stand side by side with such excellent Birders, Hawk Watchers, and more importantly, excellent people! This Spring did not serve up much warm weather, but for several days in April, the observation area was red hot with the sights and sounds of some incredible flights of Raptors!  Time is ticking away already to another migration this Fall on the Tower at Wachusett Mt. Have a great summer and hope to see everyone soon!

See below for the species totals and grand total of migrating raptors: