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Welcome to the Chestnut Ridge Hawk Watch
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The Chestnut Ridge Hawk Watch sits on an east-facing ridge at The Nature Conservancy’s 350-acre Arthur W. Butler Sanctuary in Bedford Corners, New York. Located in the southern foothills of the Taconic Mountains and fifteen miles north of Long Island Sound, the site affords views of the hills of Putnam County, New York to the north, the towns of Bedford, Pound Ridge and North Castle to the east, and Greenwich, Connecticut and the Long Island Sound to the south.
Migrant birds follow the local ridgelines and the sound shore in our region, offering birders sitting in the Hawk Watch’s bleachers views of birds of prey as they pass from east to west in front of and over the watch.
Sixteen species of birds of prey pass the Chestnut Ridge Hawk Watch every fall. Many of them begin their migration from their breeding grounds in Quebec, the Canadian Maritimes, and northern New England. However, others come from as far away as Alaska and the Northwest.
The most favorable weather conditions for hawk flights at Chestnut Ridge are autumn days with blue skies, puffy cumulus clouds, and northwest winds that follow a cold front out of the Great Lakes. Don’t be discouraged if these weather conditions don’t occur during your planned visit. West, northeast, and even south winds can produce a reasonable flight of hawks at Chestnut Ridge.
Migrant hawks don’t pass through in a steady stream, so if you go, plan on spending the better part of a day there although you may catch a good flight by stopping in for an hour or two. Bring binoculars and a spotting scope if you have them. A field guide will be of use, but Bedford Audubon’s Hawk Watcher will be happy to help you spot and identify the birds.
CAUTION: Once you’ve experienced hawk watching, you may be hooked for life. Hawks, eagles, and falcons are nothing less than some of nature’s most beautiful and graceful creatures.
Bedford Audubon is pleased to announce that Cameron Rutt
will be the hawk watcher at the Chestnut Ridge Hawk Watch for the Fall
2008 migration.
Cameron has recently graduated with a bachelor’s degree with honors in biology from Messiah College in Grantham, Pennsylvania. He brings considerable field birding experience with him including participation in auditory bird surveys, mist netting and bird banding, and countless hours scanning the skies for raptors at Waggoner’s Gap, Hawk Mountain, and Cape May.
On a personal note, Cameron has recorded close to 600 species of birds in the ABA recording area and has recently been appointed to the Pennsylvania Ornithological Records Committee. Come meet Cameron at the Hawk Watch. He will be on duty from 9:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m. Monday–Saturday from August 22 through November 20. (Another Hawk Watcher will be on duty on Sundays.)
Drive about 100 yards and take first left hand turn on to Chestnut Ridge Road.
Take Chestnut Ridge Road for about 1.5 miles and look for the entrance on the Right, the sign for the Nature Conservancy's Butler Sanctuary and go across the bridge to the parking lot.
The Hawk Watch is up the hill to the left (see sign just inside the fence).
Click for Hawk Watch Reports From Prior Seasons
2000
2001
2007
Photo Courtesy of and Copyright by Richard L. Becker
rlbecker-songstar.org
www.songstar.org
Copyright © 2002–2008 Bedford Audubon Society
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Bedford
Audubon Society