Wonders never cease. This essential thing, there is always something new to learn, is one of the things that keeps me walking out the door and right back out observing the natural world over and over again. And while it is our friend Arthur who is standing in that space at the CBHW, in this time, drinking in what there is to learn, I can at least make tables at a distance and wonder as well – and wonders never cease!
What started as a thing that seemed interesting because of rough-legged hawks is simply revealing what is interesting about that thing for what it is, which is, through September 30, 2021, this:
| Species | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 |
| Turkey Vulture | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Osprey | 23 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 0 |
| Golden Eagle | 3 | 19 | 75 | 82 | 38 | 12 |
| Bald Eagle | 29 | 19 | 36 | 49 | 64 | 7 |
| Northern Harrier | 92 | 10 | 47 | 74 | 50 | 9 |
| Sharp-shinned Hawk | 84 | 7 | 52 | 75 | 31 | 13 |
| Cooper’s Hawk | 22 | 1 | 10 | 25 | 6 | 1 |
| Northern Goshawk | 2 | 0 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Broad-winged Hawk | 37 | 0 | 4 | 11 | 7 | 0 |
| Swainson’s Hawk | 1073 | 7 | 142 | 63 | 81 | 0 |
| Red-tailed Hawk | 108 | 34 | 205 | 200 | 145 | 44 |
| Rough-legged Hawk | 0 | 38 | 156 | 243 | 271 | 236 |
| Ferruginous Hawk | 62 | 5 | 58 | 22 | 48 | 2 |
| American Kestrel | 84 | 2 | 7 | 29 | 9 | 1 |
| Merlin | 13 | 3 | 7 | 19 | 18 | 3 |
| Gyrfalcon | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Peregrine Falcon | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| Prairie Falcon | 4 | 2 | 5 | 23 | 20 | 8 |
| Unknown Eagle | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| Unknown Raptor | 1 | 1 | 6 | 29 | 5 | 1 |
| Unknown Accipiter | 1 | 0 | 8 | 14 | 0 | 0 |
| Unknown Falcon | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Unknown Buteo | 2 | 5 | 21 | 20 | 26 | 11 |
| Total | 1643 | 155 | 859 | 989 | 827 | 352 |
| Effort (hours) | 358.75 | 58.5 | 431.52 | 330 | 99 | 34.75 |
| Dates | 8/15-9/30 | 9/12-10/31 | 9/1-11/15 | 9/15-11/12 | 8/25-11/19 | 9/7-11/2 |
A glaring highlight here is obviously the Swainson’s hawk flight (clear evidence that starting August 15 to better capture this flight was well worth it), but there are little tidbits of interesting across the board.
We’re delighted to have a seasoned counter well-versed in the raptor ecology of the immediate area who we were super lucky to drop on the coulee for the season, and this certainly is a contributing factor to how the 2021 column is stacking up, but don’t let the overall larger numbers distract from the play here with (1) starting earlier and (2) annual variability and (3) things we just don’t yet know. The project is young for a hawkwatch, and the practice of open country hawk migration observation is also young.
I’m going to just let these numbers simmer out here and let it play…
Enjoy October and may your wonders never cease!
– Kate
Cut Bank Hawkwatch 
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