New Scotland

Nearly a dozen bird enthusiasts looked to the sky at the Helderberg overlook in John Boyd Thacher State Park on Monday, the peak of the broad-winged hawk migration.

"Five birds in the north," one watcher said, as heads and binoculars all turned.

"Look over here," said another, sending the watchers spinning.

That surprise is Marian Sole's favorite part of the Helderberg Hawk Watch.

"We're all looking this way and there's one right behind us," said the 62-year-old Valatie resident. "Frequently, one will come right above us. It's an adrenaline rush when it happens."

Sole has been birding at Thacher since she moved to the Capital Region from Connecticut in 2011 and joined the Alan Devoe Bird Club.

She wasn't the only longtime bird-watcher at the park.

Will Aubrey, 67, of Northville, Fulton County, has been at the overlook every year for the past 13, specifically to see the broad-winged hawks pass through on their way to South America for the winter.

"They're getting out of town because their food is going underground," Aubrey said.

Hawks eat small mammals, birds and amphibians.

Thacher Park can get between 1,000 and 2,000 broad-winged hawks coming through each year, said Aubrey, a member of the Hawk Migration Association of America and affiliated NorthEast Hawk Watch.

More Information More info To learn more about the Hawk Migration Association of America, visit the association's website, http://www.hmana.org See More Collapse

"I'm trying to figure out what bird I want to come back as," he said smiling. "As they soar through the air, it's so peaceful."

Broad-winged hawks conserve energy on migration by soaring on rising hot air called thermal columns and then shooting out, using the current to send them south, Aubrey said.

As of Monday afternoon, the bird-watchers had seen more than 700 broad-winged hawks, as well as 50 other birds, including a bald eagle, other types of hawks and a pair of peregrine falcons.

"We come up a week ahead of time to count the local birds so we don't count them over and over," Aubrey said.

Each year, more than 3,000 people gather at the overlook the third week in September for the hawk watch, he said. "It's free."

The more serious watchers like Tom Williams, 55, of Colonie come armed with binoculars, identification books, notebooks and cameras.

"It's exciting to watch the spectacle of migration," said Williams, a member of the Hudson-Mohawk Bird Club. "It sucks you in. Once you've seen it once, you want to come back and do it again next year."

Friends Maria Cataldo, 71, of Rotterdam and Orlanda Carafello, 65, of Brunswick went for their first time Monday, having missed the peak last year by a few days.

They already are talking about buying better binoculars.

"Just seeing all the birds and having people who can identify them, I'm going to do more with this," Carafello said.

Cataldo agreed. "The simplest things in life are the nicest," she said.

kclukey@timesunion.com • 518-454-5467 • @kclukey_TU