Bluebird Weather

This view is from the spot where I'm planning to do my fall hawkatching this year at Roundtop. Yesterday was a beautiful day, if not ideal hawkwatching weather. Good hawkatching weather is usually not good weather. Hawkwatchers call days like yesterday "bluebird weather." Good hawkwatching usually comes the day after a cold front has moved past. The day will usually have a strong northwest wind and usually brings a lot of hawks.

The one species of hawk that really hates strong winds are Broad-winged hawks. They prefer little to no breeze, and they like skies that let them cruise strong solar thermals. When they get that, they can pretty much fly higher than hawkwatchers can see. Hawkwatchers hate that.

This view looks to the north. Many hawks migrate by sticking to the ridges that are in the distance across the valley in this photo. The ridges from from the northeast to the southwest, but depending on weather, hawks and other birds will also leave the ridges and cross over Roundtop. That's what I hope for.

If you click on this photo and look at the larger view, you can see some yellowing of the trees, especially those in the left and center area. That's not fall color change. It's withering from the dryness that this area is currently experiencing. I'll have more on that tomorrow.

Yesterday was not a big migration day anywhere--not at Roundtop and also not at the ridge sites. It's still too early in the season for a really big day, and yesterday's weather was really too nice for hawks. It was plenty nice enough for Dog and me to sit out on the hill for a few hours, though. I saw 3 black vultures heading south, a large number of turkey vultures and 2 red-tailed hawks.