Today was my first day of counting for Mount Peter Hawkwatch’s 2026 season. It’s super early in the season, so my expectations were pretty low – I would have been happy with a dozen or so migrating raptors. Surprisingly, however, it was was a pruductive flight, and I tallied over 50 birds moving through. Tom Millard joined me at the end of the second hour and I was glad to have the company and the extra pair of eyes. Of note was (7) migrating Bald Eagles, and the high count was, of course, Broad-winged Hawks with 36 counted for the day. You can see my Hawkcount.org daily report at the bottom of this post.
Hope you had good weather for your first day! Seven bald eagles is amazing!!
The weather was pretty much perfect – wind coming from the north, enough clouds to help see the birds, and not too hot. Matt