The Putney Mountain Hawkwatch: 50 Years Counting Hawks

The Putney Mountain Hawkwatch: 50 Years Counting Hawks
Wednesday, October 11th at 7pm at Putney Public Library

Each Fall, an intrepid bunch of people heads up Putney Mountain with one goal in mind – count as many hawks and vultures as they can, regardless of the weather. For 50 years, volunteers have made this trek, enjoying the view, the company, but most importantly, the drama of the hawk migration. Join members of the group on Wednesday, October 11th at 7pm at Putney Public Library to hear about the Hawkwatch’s history, the data it gathers, and how you can get more involved!

In 1974, volunteers counted 519 birds on just four days. But this count represented 21% of all birds seen at the 10 statewide lookout sites in Vermont that year. Fifty years later someone is counting birds on Putney Mountain every day from late August to November 10th , rivaling the coverage in nearby sites with paid watchers. And the birds keep coming, thrilling the watchers with their sheer numbers, ambition, and aerial antics. It has to be experienced.

The data collected on Putney Mountain is added to that from approximately 200 affiliated raptor monitoring sites and organized by the Hawk Migration Association of North America, providing a near-real-time international database of hawk counts across the continent. The year-to-year data can be accessed by anyone on hawkcount.org .

Putney Public Library is located at 55 Main St. in Putney, VT. This program is free and open to the public.