There have been other highlights to the hawk migration season, including good company during the annual Harris Center mid-month watch. Often there were more people than hawks, but I didn t hear complaints. Sunday morning was quiet and on the cold side. Ospreys are coming through in good numbers this year. Eight during one hour on Pack Monadnock was a record for me, including a trio, stacked up tall, circling as a unit moving south, drifting along on a play of sun and gentle wind.
Ospreys are the most leisurely in their journey south despite an ambitious itinerary.
Many spend the winter in South America. I saw my first Pack Monadnock Peregrine last week. Most migrants show up over the river valley to the west of North Pack. The distant figure from the east, over Lyndeborough, didn t look like the local ravens, Turkey Vultures and Red-tailed Hawks that mill around North Pack. Irene spotted the odd newcomer as a distant speck.