The Militia Hill Hawk Watch has had an impressive tabulation of raptor species and numbers since we began compiling in 1988. All 17 raptor species that migrate on the east coast have been spotted, many on a regular basis. From 1988 - 1998, we compiled from September through November. Starting in 1999, we reduced our dates to September and October only.

In 2009 we added a new species to our list with the appearance of a very cooperative Swallow-tailed Kite which brings us to a total of 18 species of raptors spotted from the hill.

Quantities highlighted mark the highest yearly total for each species

Militia Hill Hawk Watch 
Cumulative Totals  1988-2009
Highs
    BV TV OS SK BE NH SS CH NG RS BW RT SH RL GE AK ML PF UR   Total:
                                             
1988   2 422 56   5 26 457 53 0 70 1712 921 0 3 2 117 5 6 0   3857
1989   18 413 169   8 86 1005 92 2 64 1877 924 0 7 1 284 33 12 295   5290
1990   9 414 318   7 41 1394 124 6 54 7574 1354 0 9 2 584 44 24 331   12289
1991   5 484 211   17 46 1246 129 13 79 6082 556 0 5 3 371 39 18 118   9422
1992   16 552 157   10 34 919 117 3 52 2767 567 0 10 1 330 17 22 127   5701
1993   52 643 250   21 86 1245 158 9 77 16440 569 0 3 3 333 39 19 116   20063
1994   70 381 222   19 83 1116 155 4 52 3056 787 1 2 3 279 25 20 101   6376
1995   33 446 275   23 105 1071 134 1 109 17721 787 0 0 7 401 28 15 84   21240
1996   36 321 248   36 49 850 134 2 97 7395 499 0 0 3 227 28 13 61   9999
1997   68 217 276   34 58 864 90 1 53 8858 247 0 0 0 278 21 10 107   11182
1998   27 187 247   24 103 780 112 1 46 3299 221 0 1 0 291 22 14 75   5450
switch from 3 month (Sept-Nov) reporting to 2 month (Sept/Oct)  reporting    
1999   23 285 315   44 70 994 153 4 36 6626 301 1 1 3 435 36 11 80   9418
2000   37 137 245   35 54 926 111 1 24 14526 152 1 1 2 353 28 11 73   16717
2001   13 238 249   42 40 845 149 0 16 2756 183 0 0 0 365 21 8 102   5027
2002   81 453 227   35 42 823 132 2 18 9406 300 0 0 1 204 10 4 54   11792
2003   14 468 249   51 91 909 109 3 18 2065 197 0 0 1 222 24 13 42   4476
2004   69 430 220   58 51 1044 126 3 22 6988 375 0 0 0 134 15 12 72   9619
2005   15 232 257   62 44 862 184 1 92 9173 276 0 0 4 190 15 14 62   11483
2006   19 60 406   73 74 1153 194 2 72 2966 122 0 0 5 220 22 13 75   5476
2007   64 214 262   63 88 1043 150 2 47 4787 134 0 0 5 253 27 24 85   7248
2008   62 391 233   68 60 859 112 0 39 8504 106 0 0 2 212 15 21 79   10763
2009   12 435 263 1 86 77 1169 136 1 42 13436 60 0 0 2 274 26 41 69   16130
                                             
                                             
Total:   745 7823 5355 1 821 1408 21574 2854 61 1179 158014 9638 3 42 50 6357 540 345 2208   219018

Peak Daily Flights

Black Vulture

54

10/31/02

Turkey Vulture

134

10/17/09

Osprey

42

9/25/06

Swallow-tailed Kite

1

9/1/09

Bald Eagle

13

9/5/2003

Northern Harrier

15

10/11/03

Sharp-shinned Hawk

140

10/23/05

Cooper's Hawk

23

10/11/03

Northern Goshawk

3

twice

Red-shouldered Hawk

25

11/2/96

Broad-winged Hawk

13,079

9/17/95

Red-tailed Hawk

133

11/10/94

Swainson's Hawk

1

9/3/94

Rough-legged Hawk

3

3 times

Golden Eagle

3

11/8/95 & 10/15/07

American Kestrel

73

10/11/90

Merlin

7

9/20/93

Peregrine Falcon

5

10/1/94 & 10/8/07 & 10/26/09