Photo of the Day: Bird Watching, State Line Lookout, Alpine NJ

State Line Lookout, just off Palisades Interstate Parkway, offers more than just breathtaking views of the Hudson River about half a mile south of the New Jersey-New York state line. It also provides a prime viewing spot for bird watchers, on the forested ridge of the Palisades Cliffs.

As you can tell from the photo I took this morning, the bird watchers were out in full force, wielding binoculars, cameras and unabashed awe at what they observed. A chart next to the group tallied the avian creatures they’d already seen by noon (osprey, bald eagles, sharp-shinned hawks, American kestrels, merlins), and other species seen this year (Northern herons, coopers’ hawks, broad-winged hawks, red-tailed hawks, peregrine falcons)—all compared with the totals for these birds last year.

It was easy to see what drove the bird watchers to this spot on this day: the discovery of, creatures in all their winged glory, swooping and diving under an azure sky. But it’s also a matter of patient observation and documentation as much as it is appreciation, as those who linger here report their findings to the Website www.hawkcount.org.