This year's DVRC Member's hawk watch was scheduled for Saturday September 17, 2005, but due to a cold front pushing through the area bringing rain and poor hawk watching conditions, it was postponed until Sunday.

A cold front passing by is a great thing when it comes to hawk watching as all who attended can attest. By Sunday morning when we met at the DVRC Rehab Center the winds blew from the Northwest and a deep blue, partly cloudy sky was over head.

While waiting for everyone to arrive, most were treated to a view of an adult Bald Eagle sitting in a tree across the lake. Bill started with a discussion about hawk watching and how to identify the different raptors we hoped to see. It wouldn't be one of Bill's talks about hawks if he did not have some visual aids! The members were treated to close up views of some of the center's non-releasable education birds like the Red-tailed Hawk pictured at right. After close up views of the Red-tail, a Kestrel and a Broad-winged Hawk, it was time to tour the center to see the rest of the birds.

It wasn't long before we were off to Sunrise Mountain in Stokes State Forest, New Jersey. Once we arrived it didn't take long before we knew we were about to have a great day of hawk watching! In the first hour we saw 40 birds including 3 immature Bald Eagles within minutes of each other. While some birds were high up and hard to see we also had some close looks at some like this Coopers Hawk and Sharp-shinned Hawk.

Can you tell the difference?

Telling these two raptors apart is one of the most difficult identifications for hawk watchers. Fortunately these two were very close, and Scott Rando's quick work with his camera captured them for study. Sharpies are smaller than Coopers, but that takes some practice to see when the birds are at different altitudes. Color and patterns help but angle of the sun can make that look different, and besides these birds have the same pattern! Their shape is similar too since they are both accipiters. So lets look at the difference in the head and tail. The head sticks out farther from the wings on a Coopers, and it also has a more rounded tail than a Sharp-shin does. There is also a more noticeable white edge on the tail of a Coopers. Still can't tell? Don't worry, even the most experienced hawk watchers often disagree as these birds fly by. THE ANSWER: Sharp-shinned Hawk on the left and Coopers Hawk on the right.

But the bird of mid-September is the Broad-winged Hawk. This is the peak of their migration and they didn't disappoint us as we had 100 for the day!

Here's our tally: