Last Saturday I counted again at Hawk Mountain. The weather was rainy on the drive up but as I polled into the parking lot I was met with snow. Upon reaching the lookout, I could see the line where the snow started further down. The trees and rocks were covered and it was beautiful. Unfortunately, birds were slow to come. I thought that maybe we would at least get some finches after the cold front but even that was wishful. Only about 4 birds before 2 pm but after that it picked up a little bit with a Northern Goshawk, two Golden Eagles, three harriers and 23 Red-tailed Hawks for a total of 34 raptors for the day.
Currently, the Hawk Mountain count for the season is at 18,946 raptors, another good year for hawks and hawk watchers. My last count day will be December 8th, which will hopefully bring me my first Hawk Mountain Rough-legged Hawk and maybe some finches and crossbills as a bonus.