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Male Magnificent Frigatebird. SUBMITTED PHOTO
Dennis Forney December 11, 2020
There are days when hawks, eagles and other birds of prey fly fast and furious over the Hawk Watch platform atop an oceanfront bunker in Cape Henlopen State Park. And then there are days when dense fog and rain make spotting southerly migrating hawks just about impossible.
This year’s Hawk Watch season, running annually from Sept. 1 through Nov. 30, brought both conditions. It’s a serious endeavor. Volunteers and one professional birder, coordinated by Delaware Ornithological Society, mount the steep steps to the observation platform seven days a week. From 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. they scan the skies with bare eyes and binoculars. They carefully record and report each sighting to DOS, and maintain a whiteboard at the platform showing species and numbers.