Cromwell Valley Park HawkWatch  Thursday, Sept. 22nd  2005

Beginning at 9:15am over 40 Broad-winged hawks were seen rising from the trees on the south-
east ridge( Cub Hill Rd.-Satyr Hill Rd. area ). These birds gained altitude at a moderate pace and 
then headed south-west. As I carefully counted a few straggling BWs, my two co-observers 
excitedly called my attention to the distant north-east."A huge group of hawks,man, hundreds, 
maybe a thousand!!? "  
At first one, then two, and then three large kettles of BW hawks were seen. Each kettle was 
separate, yet appeared to be  close to each other, something I have never seen before. I attempted 
to get a count, but these birds were quickly obscured by the north ridge tree line. A count of 350+ 
Broad-winged hawks is probably on the low side. After looking at a map, I believe these kettles 
formed over the Manor Rd.-Morgan Mill Rd. area, just north of Loch Raven Dam.
That was 10:20am. LIFTOFF. After that we saw only a few high flying BWs, very hard to see against 
a blue, somewhat hazy sky. 
The rest of the morning was pleasantly spent talking of past hawkwatching thrills and hopes for 
tomorrow's flight.....

CVP HawkWatch  TOTALS  9/22/2005

Broad-winged hawk - 425
Sharp-shinned hawk - 7
Osprey -6
Bald eagle - 4   - a pair of adults at 1:15pm and a pair of 1st or 2nd yr birds at 2:05pm

Jim Meyers      Parkville Md