Another spring migration season has come to a close at HawkWatch International! Our six crew members spent over 1,000 hours monitoring, counted nearly 7,000 birds, and welcomed 3,382 visitors throughout the season. We are so grateful to our incredible crews, partners, and supporters like you for making this migration season a success. Special thanks to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Tubac Nature Center, Tucson Bird Alliance, Hawk Migration Association, and Trektellen for their financial and in-kind support.
So what happened this spring season? Check out these season wrap-ups from our spring crews.
Tubac HawkWatch, AZ
Melissa Marshall
It was a great season at the Tubac HawkWatch! Highlights include the hottest March on record for Arizona (>100 F for multiple days, which had never happened before), reaching a new high count for Common Black Hawks (592 compared to the previous high of 554), and seeing more dark morph Broad-winged Hawks and more juvenile Common Black Hawks than we have in previous years. Multiple juveniles went right over our heads in the park, and Peter Collins, the site founder, said they were the best views of juvenile Common Black Hawks he’s had there since he began counting in 2013!
Aside from raptors, javelinas frequently visited. We saw White-throated Swifts in aerial courtship displays right over our heads, had our first Calliope Hummingbird at our hummingbird feeders in the park, and had an abandoned rooster at the site for a few days before a local heard about the lost pet, came by, and adopted it. We named him Ron/Ronnie after Ron Morris Park! We also had lots of butterflies this year, which was nice.
We were visited by many people from the broader HawkWatching community throughout the season and during the festival, including folks who worked at Veracruz, Golden Gate Raptor Observatory, Manzano Mountains, Gunsight Mountain, Cape Henlopen, and Bonney Butte HawkWatches. We also had an exceptional birder from CA who was only 10 years old. He and his mom were checking our numbers daily before their arrival.
Outside of working hours, there was lots and lots of birding! That is pretty much all we did on our days off, as we wanted to enjoy the birds of southern Arizona and explore the surrounding area. We also attended a mothing event at the community center where they set up moth sheets and lights, which was really cool.
Gunsight Mountains HawkWatch, AK
Jacob Tsikoyak and Jonah Rosen-Bloom
The Gunsight Mountain HawkWatch also experienced extreme temperatures, with this season easily being the coldest since HWI began monitoring the spring migration at the site in 2016. The cold winter conditions seemed to delay Golden Eagle migration more significantly than any other individual species. This led to a great April, though, beginning with big Golden Eagle numbers that tapered off right as we started getting great buteo numbers! Overall, total counts of migrating raptors were greater than the previous two years but approximately 400 birds below (~85% of) long-term averages.
While hawkwatching, we also spotted a pack of eight wolves atop the Syncline range on three consecutive days. We saw countless moose throughout the season, and spotted doll sheep along the far southwest edge of the Synclines. We even saw one cross fox in the low ridge of Gunsight Mountain.
Two dedicated regular visitors, Brad and Theodore were our most frequent visitors, and we were grateful for the company. The head of biological resources at one of the local national parks, who inquired about Golden Eagle populations, and a Board member of the Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival also visited. Special shout-out to Chris Wood and Tom Auer from eBird and Drab Meiklejohn from the Conservation Fund.
After hours, we did a good amount of birding and played many card games. We had game nights once or twice most weeks and semi-regular fires with Pete (who owns the lodge we stay at) and his buddies or his family, Rosie and Russel. We also went out to eat a few times in Palmer or Glenallen to celebrate big days/season milestones.
The spring season may be over, but there are still plenty of opportunities to get involved and come hawkwatching with us! Head over to our Summer Hub to find out what events and field trips are coming up: https://hawkwatch.org/summer-hub/
This blog was written by Sammy Riccio, HWI’s Communications Manager, and our 2026 spring crew members. You can learn more about Sammy here.
