Bedford Audubon Society

A Northern Westchester & Eastern Putnam Counties, New York
Chapter of the National Audubon Society

Celebrating 97 Years of Conservation 1913-2010


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Welcome to the Chestnut Ridge Hawkwatch at the Arthur W. Butler Sanctuary!

Golden Eagle
The Golden Eagle is a rare migrant at
the Chestnut Ridge Hawkwatch

The Chestnut Ridge Hawkwatch sits on an east-facing ridge at The Nature Conservancy’s 350-acre Arthur W. Butler Sanctuary in Bedford Corners, New York. Located in the southern foothills of the Taconic Mountains and fifteen miles north of Long Island Sound, the site affords views of the hills of Putnam County, New York to the north, the towns of Bedford, Pound Ridge and North Castle to the east, and Greenwich, Connecticut and the Long Island Sound to the south.

Migrant birds follow the local ridgelines and the sound shore in our region, offering birders sitting in the Hawkwatch’s bleachers views of birds of prey as they pass from east to west in front of and over the watch.

Sixteen species of birds of prey pass the Chestnut Ridge Hawkwatch every fall. Many of them begin their migration from their breeding grounds in Quebec, the Canadian Maritimes, and northern New England. However, others come from as far away as Alaska and the Northwest.

The most favorable weather conditions for hawk flights at Chestnut Ridge are autumn days with blue skies, puffy cumulus clouds, and northwest winds that follow a cold front out of the Great Lakes. Don’t be discouraged if these weather conditions don’t occur during your planned visit. West, northeast, and even south winds can produce a reasonable flight of hawks at Chestnut Ridge.

Migrant hawks don’t pass through in a steady stream, so if you go, plan on spending the better part of a day there although you may catch a good flight by stopping in for an hour or two. Bring binoculars and a spotting scope if you have them. A field guide will be of use, but Bedford Audubon’s Hawkwatcher will be happy to help you spot and identify the birds.

Read an article about the Hawkwatch from The New York Times published on October 27, 1991: "Stalking Birds of Prey Through Eyes of Binoculars."

CAUTION: Once you’ve experienced hawk watching, you may be hooked for life. Hawks, eagles, and falcons are nothing less than some of nature’s most beautiful and graceful creatures.

Click for Up-to-Date Hawkwatch Results

Arthur Green, 2009 Hawk Counter at Chestnut Ridge

Hawk Counter Arthur GreenThe Bedford Audubon Society has hired Arthur Green as our staff Hawk Counter at the Chestnut Ridge Hawkwatch for Fall 2009. A longtime resident of Mount Kisco, Arthur will continue to serve as Chair of Bedford Audubon’s Hawkwatch Committee and welcomes this new opportunity to improve the quality and scope of this year’s hawk count. Apart from their scientific value, Arthur sees hawk counts as a useful means of raising awareness of the raptor’s importance in our ecology; he writes, “As much as humanity often tries to isolate itself from the natural world, we can’t protect or destroy the world that hawks live in without doing the same to our own world. Our world is their world. Teaching someone to respect hawks is actually a subtle way of teaching him to respect himself. It can’t be helped.”

Apart from his work with BAS, Arthur plays piano and writes music for synthesizers, studies Japanese language, and serves on Saw Mill River Audubon’s Board of Directors. He is a member of the Hawk Migration Association of North America. You can meet Arthur at the hawkwatch Monday through Saturday, 8 a.m. through 4 p.m.

Directions to the Chestnut Ridge Hawkwatch
Take I-684 to exit 4 (Bedford-Mt Kisco-Route 172) and turn off the ramp toward Mount Kisco. (Left if coming from the South, right if coming from the North.)

Drive about 100 yards and take first left hand turn on to Chestnut Ridge Road.

Take Chestnut Ridge Road for about 1.5 miles and look for the entrance on the Right, the sign for the Nature Conservancy's Butler Sanctuary and go across the bridge to the parking lot.

The Hawkwatch is up the hill to the left (see sign just inside the fence).

Click for Hawkwatch Reports From Prior Seasons
2000 Hawkwatch   2001 Hawkwatch   2007 Hawkwatch   2008 Hawkwatch

Hawk Migration Association of North America
The Hawk Migration Association of North America (HMANA) is a membership-based organization committed to the conservation of raptors through the scientific study, enjoyment, and appreciation of raptor migration. HMANA collects hawk count data from almost two hundred affiliated raptor monitoring sites throughout the United States, Canada, and Mexico. It has pages on Hawk Locations and Hawk Count Data.

Eagle Photo Courtesy of and Copyright by Richard L. Becker  www.songstar.org

Copyright © 2002–2009 Bedford Audubon Society
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