DREHERSVILLE - One of the highlights of Hawk Mountain Sanctuary celebrating its 80th anniversary was having two season records recorded during the annual Autumn Hawk Watch held from August 15 to December 15.

According to Hawk Mountain Sanctuary director of communications Mark Linkevich, season records were record with a total of 88 peregrine falcons and 936 turkey vultures, and a single-day record was recorded with a total of 247 turkey vultures. In all, 17,382 were recorded during the annual raptor count, with 17,379 being spotted during the official count period."Another year is in the books and it was an exciting season of record counts and near misses," Linkevich said. "Bald and golden eagles were both above normal, with bald eagles falling a few birds short of a new record."Black vultures and merlins were the only other species with above average counts, and we also counted two rough-legged hawks, the first time since 2008 that we've counted more than one. Seven species fell below their 10-year average: osprey, northern harrier, Cooper's hawk, northern goshawk, broad-winged hawk, red-tailed hawk, and American kestrel, and unfortunately for harriers and red-tails, this continues their short- and long-term decline."We count everything at North Lookout and this year that included 79,240 non-raptor migrants, including 887 butterflies and 411 dragonflies. Some totals included 27,415 Canada geese, 528 snow geese, 1,324 double-crested cormorants, 2,024 barn swallows, 2,414 tree swallows, 5,021 blue jays, 2,947 American crows, and 4,723 pine siskins."Linkevich said some of the notable single-day counts included: 84 tundra swans November 19, 29 common nighthawks September 1, 1,153 barn swallows August 15 and 635 pine siskins October 21. Some notable big-flight days included: September 23 when counters tallied six species of woodpeckers, four species of flycatchers, five species of vireo, 11 species of warblers, among them 44 Cape May and 113 black-throated green; and September 27 when 11 species of warblers were counted, including a record 72 blackpoll warblers, along with 90 ruby-crowned kinglets, and a brown thrasher."Some volunteers will continue to count sporadically though January and we will update our count page following such days, research biologist Dave Barber said. "Do remember that the best days to see migrants are those with strong northwest winds."For those not find the thought of perching on a lookout in sub-freezing weather appealing, they may want to join us in the spring for our spring migration count starting April 1. Information about other events will also be posted on our website (www.hawkmountain.org) throughout the year."Two birding trips have been scheduled, the first of which is a one-day bus trip to New York City for a visit to Central Park, Thursday, April 30, departing from the parking lot of Cabela's Hamburg at 6 a.m. Former Hawk Mountain Sanctuary trainee "Birding Bob" DeCandido and photographer Deborah Allen will lead a 3-hour guided bird walk of the park upon arrival, with free time from noon to 3 p.m., when the bus departs for the expected 7 p.m. arrival time at Cabela's.For the more adventurous, a six-day trip to Texas will be held from December 5-10 to view whooping cranes and other birds. Texas is one of the best birding destinations in the Lower 48, and on the itinerary is Aransas Bay on the Wharf Cat to see the endangered whooping crane and many other aquatic species.Whooping crane numbers continue a slow, but steady annual increase, and the trip will also feature special other locations that have been selected to see special birds, such as a visit to Sinton to search for the mountain plover, or to several residential areas for red-crowned parrot and green parakeet. Laguna Atascosa, Santa Ana, Anzalduas and Bentsen all offer oases of native vegetation and are home to great birds found along the Mexican border.For information on these trips, email

grob@hawkmountain.org or call 610-756-6961.