At Hawkwatch Weekend, birders flock to Glacier View pullout to tally raptors

What you need to know:

• The annual Gunsight Mountain Hawkwatch Weekend in Glacier View draws bird enthusiasts from across Southcentral to observe the spring migration of raptors, especially the notable Harlan’s hawk.
• The gathering attracts both longtime participants and newcomers, offering education, social activities and opportunities to engage with nature while promoting ongoing conservation efforts.
• Organized by birding groups and supported by HawkWatch International, the event combines research, citizen science and community gathering, with volunteers counting dozens of birds during peak migration.

• Short on time but need the local news scoop? Get free weekly news in your inbox for Mat-Su, from Mat-Su.

GLACIER VIEW — Every day from March 10 to May 15, four figures stand in waysides on the Glenn Highway in Glacier View, tracing slow “Ws” in the sky with binoculars.

Early this month, dozens of visitors with their own binoculars, spotting scopes, cameras, and lawn chairs joined them for a day of raptor spotting at Mile 118.8.

This is the annual Gunsight Mountain Hawkwatch Weekend, which draws bird enthusiasts from the Mat-Su Valley, Anchorage, and beyond to celebrate the spring raptor migration. The Anchorage Audubon Society and the Matsu Birders plan the event to coincide with the expected peak of the migration.

The goal?

“Just to basically see this parade of migrating raptors that comes through every year. It’s just incredibly cool to sit here and watch them stream by,” said Mr. Whitekeys, a longtime Southcentral celebrity and the so-called commander in chief of Anchorage Audubon.

By 10:30 a.m., when the April 18 count kicked off with a speech and bird identification lesson from HawkWatch International research biologist and banding coordinator Jesse Watson, about 20 cars and 40 people already filled the pull-off.

Not even five minutes into the talk, cries of “Bird!” interrupted Watson’s instructions, triggering a mass scramble for binoculars and then a chorus of oohs, aahs, and “I see it!”

The first bird of the day was a Harlan’s hawk, the star of the show. Gunsight Mountain is renowned as the Harlan’s hawk capital of the world, known for high volumes of the somewhat rare subspecies of red-tailed hawk. Every year, hundreds of Harlan’s hawks — along with golden eagles, rough-legged hawks, harriers and others — are funneled through the pass between the Chugach and Talkeetna ranges during their journey from their wintering grounds in the South to their summer breeding grounds, Watson said.

The Gunsight Mountain Hawkwatch is the northernmost regularly staffed hawkwatch in the world and one of dozens that take place in the U.S. each year.

Since 2016, the research and conservation nonprofit Hawkwatch International has stationed a migration monitoring crew at the Glenn Highway Mile 120 and 121 pull-offs from mid-March to mid-May, using federal and state funding.

Hawkwatch weekend is part citizen science monitoring project and part tailgate. At its peak Saturday, about 75 people were camped out at the pull-off in small clusters of camping chairs, scanning the ridgeline over the road or the valley to the west. People grilled hot dogs, and some alternated between grabbing a beer and binoculars. Kids and dogs ran around the lot. All told, volunteers counted 77 raptors throughout the day, including 16 rough-legged hawks, four northern harriers, and one sharp-shinned hawk.

“The kids have their own version of Hawkwatch and the adults have theirs,” said Jeremiah Drage, who came up from Anchorage with friends Aaron and Kate Martin and their children. “The adult version is learning about the birds, enjoying, skiing.” As for the kid version, “We’re like feral,” chimed in a nearby child.

This year’s daily spring migration monitoring crew members — Charles Trent, Jacob Tsikoyak, and Jonah Rosen-Bloom — along with site lead Delaney Cassidy, want more visitors to come by and help count or simply enjoy the birds. They’ve recorded 32 visits so far this season, including a regular named Brad and his dog Elsa, who helped count 109 golden eagles in one day.

“We want [Alaskans] to come out, and we want to teach them and inform them about what we’re doing,” Watson said. “That’s really how these efforts stay supported and maintain their presence.”

For local couple Tashia Ulman and Eli Seward, the event doubled as their engagement party.

“It’s a twofer because, one, we don’t have to actually plan anything and, two, we can share our beloved hobby with everyone else. And a lot of people didn’t know about this — it’s a beautiful drive, you get to be outside and the porta-potties are paid for [by Anchorage Audubon]. So it’s perfect,” Ulman said.

About a third to a half of the hawkwatchers on Saturday were first-timers — including a half-dozen of Seward and Ulman’s guests — but many others have been hawkwatching at Gunsight for years or decades.

“It’s a really friendly community,” said Nancy Moore, a retired wildlife biologist who has been coming to Gunsight Mountain since the late 1980s. “And what really pleases me, since I’m old and have been doing this a long time, is seeing how many young people are here and seem to be enjoying this.”

Moore typically drives out from her house in Hatcher Pass multiple times per season and encourages others to do the same. “You don’t just need to come on a hawkwatch weekend. You can come throughout April,” Moore said.

Bird-curious locals can also get started by looking around wherever they are, Whitekeys said.

“No matter where you are, there are going to be birds,” he said. “Once you start paying attention to what is around you, it just sort of opens up the whole world.”

Nicole Bardasz is a freelance writer based in Anchorage. Contact Nicole at contact@matsusentinel.com