It's hawk-watching season! Hawks have begun to migrate south. Wherever you live, there will be someplace near you where you can see them passing overhead. Like other birds, hawks don't like to migrate over large bodies of water, so the best places to observe them will be along the edges of a lake or ocean. Many of these places have standard hawk-watching stations or platforms, which are staffed every fall with people who identify and count the birds passing overhead, and keep the statistics from year to year. You can follow the migration in the statistics. For instance, the highest number of migrating hawks so far this season is 3,785 Broad-winged Hawks counted today (September 17, 2005) and 533 Sharp-shins at Holiday Beach in Ontario, Canada (Holiday Beach), followed by 210 Sharp-shinned Hawks at Hawk Ridge in Duluth, Minnesota, also today. It seems clear that the hawks are moving out of Canada and into Minnesota and we will soon see big numbers at stations further south. Check out the numbers at Hawk Counts. Cape May, New Jersey, is also a good place for migrating raptors, as it is a point along the coast where the birds are crowded inland as they try to avoid the Atlantic Ocean on their way south (Cape May).

Find where people in your area go to count and watch the hawk migration at Hawk Watch Find. Birders are always welcome at all these stations. Bring your lunch and enjoy the show. Sometimes it can be quite spectacular as large groups of raptors can stream across the skies at any given time. The peak hawk-watching month is generally October, so the season's best is yet to come. That means you still have time to plan a great hawk-watching weekend.