Just came across the first column I did about State Line Hawk Watch — back in 2010, when it was starting up again for 10 weekends in the fall. Lots of neat info about the hawk watch's history:

By Jim Wright

     Here it is, not even Labor Day, and the raptor migration season is already upon us. The big news this season: For the first time in several years, the State Line Hawk Watch in Alpine – the only major hawk watch in Bergen County — will be manned with hawk counters for the next 10 weekends.
   These volunteers from local nature centers and Audubon Societies. will not only keep a running tally of the various migrating birds of prey but also help casual bird-watchers to identify these magnificent raptors, who in some cases are migrating thousands of miles.

    State Line typically does not get as many raptors as two other celebrated lookouts in the region – the Montclair Hawk Watch in Montclair and the Mount Peter Hawk Watch in nearby Orange County – but it does have some advantages.
   * No other hawk watch offers such easy access. The lookout is just off Exit 3 on the Palisades Parkway, and an easy walk from the parking lot.
   * Because the hawk watch is located adjacent to the parkway’s “Lookout Inn,” bird-watchers are just a few steps from bathrooms, a snack bar and gift shop, and a place to warm their bones on a brisk autumn day.
   * And because the hawk watch is located at the highest point on the Palisades in New Jersey (530 feet above sea level), birders can get some great bird’s-eye views of migrating raptors – and the Hudson River itself.
    On the days I have been at State Line, I have gotten some great looks at Ospreys from as they sail down the Hudson. Two autumns ago, I watched flock after flock of pine siskins as they migrated along the Hudson – a harbinger of a huge siskin population from the north that wintered in our region that winter.
      Volunteer Linn Pierson began the State Line hawk watch 13 years ago and  coordinated the count until her death in 2007. The Palisades Interstate Park is now getting the hawk watch going again with volunteers who will rotate their work schedules throughout the fall – and you can help one in one of two voluntary positions. 
   Captain/recorders will be responsible for the identification of species, accurate recording of numbers, and reporting the hawk count data at day’s end. To be considered, you must have some previous experience at a hawk watch, you  must sign up for two to five hawk watch dates, and you must attend a workshop at Lookout Inn on Sunday, Sept. 5, from 10 to 11:30 am.
   You can also be a spotter, which is a lot easier – you don’t have to sign up for any particular day, and you can as often as you like. You don’t have to attend Sunday’s workshop, but you can if you like.
    For more information, call Christina Fehre at the park, 201 768-1360, ext. 107.
    The other two major hawk watches in our region our the Montclair Hawk Watch in Upper Montclair and the Mount Peter Hawk watch in nearby Warwick, N.Y.    
   The Montclair Hawk Watch, which uses professional raptor counters, is the second-oldest continuous hawk watch in the nation (after Hawk Mountain in Pennsylvania). Mount Pete is the nation’s oldest all-volunteer hawk watch.