Wildlife & Nature · email alerts for New England, New York and Pennsylvania

Know the days the birds are worth the drive.

Name: Wildlife & Nature email alerts
Brand: Backroad Almanac
Price: 49.00 USD
Availability: InStock

Hawk-flight days at the hawk watches near you, big snow goose counts at Middle Creek, seal-watching low tides, horseshoe crab nights and peak bloom.

$49 a year · cancel anytime

Get the alerts: $49 a year

We email only when something changes at your place: at most 3 alert emails a day, alerts that come together share one email, and nothing from 9 pm to 6 am. Routine alerts wait for one 6 am morning email. Turn off any alert you don't want. 30-day money-back guarantee.

What's in Wildlife & Nature

Hawk-flight days, emailed the morning before, at the hawk watches within about 100 miles of you: northwest winds after a fall cold front (September to November), warm south winds in spring (March to May)
Seals and horseshoe crabs: weekend daylight low tides with light winds at six harbor seal spots (Chatham and Manomet Point, MA; Rome Point, RI; Montauk, Cupsogue and Jones Beach, NY; November to April), and horseshoe crab nights near the new and full moon at 16 beaches (May and June)
Peak bloom near you: flowering cherries, crabapples and redbud, apple blossoms, lilacs and mountain laurel, estimated from the season’s warmth
Woodcock sky-dance evenings in April and May: mild, calm, dry dusks near you, and when to start listening
Snow geese and tundra swans at Middle Creek, Pennsylvania, when the Game Commission counts 5,000 or more snow geese or 1,000 tundra swans (January to March; for places within about 150 miles, or anyone who follows Middle Creek)
Robin weather: the week your area averages 35°F, the old USDA rule for when migrating robin flocks pour back onto thawing lawns (February to May)

The hawk watches we watch

We send the watches within about 100 miles of your ZIP. After you pay, you can change the distance or follow any watch by name.

Connecticut: Lighthouse Point (New Haven) and Quaker Ridge (Greenwich)
Massachusetts: Mount Wachusett and Mount Tom; in spring, Plum Island and Pilgrim Heights
New Hampshire: Pack Monadnock. Vermont: Putney Mountain. Maine: Cadillac Mountain; in spring, Bradbury Mountain
New York: Hook Mountain, Mount Peter, Franklin Mountain (Oneonta) and Fire Island; in spring, Braddock Bay and Derby Hill
Pennsylvania and New Jersey: Hawk Mountain, Waggoner’s Gap, Bake Oven Knob, Militia Hill and Sunrise Mountain

Switch off any you don't want. Every alert comes by email.

September to November: hawk-flight days. November to April: seal-watching low tides. January to March: snow geese at Middle Creek. March to May: robin weather, woodcock evenings and spring hawk flights. April to June: peak bloom. May and June: horseshoe crab nights. Winter is the quiet season; the Sunday email keeps coming every week.

Everything$79 a year

Every pack, for two places (say, your home and a camp or a parent’s house), with a copy of each alert to a second email.

Choose Everything

Where the alerts come from

Pennsylvania Game Commission counts at Middle Creek
National Weather Service forecasts at each hawk watch, beach and seal spot
NOAA tide predictions and moon phases
Daily temperatures from NOAA’s Regional Climate Centers, with UMass Extension’s bloom stages
Hawk-flight and spawning timing as described by Hawk Mountain Sanctuary, Braddock Bay Raptor Research, Project Limulus and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s woodcock survey rules

Public data, checked around the clock, matched to your place. When a source changes, you get one plain email that says what changed and what it means for you.

30-day money-back guarantee

If it isn't worth it to you, reply to any of our emails within 30 days for a full refund. No questions asked.

Sample alerts from real days

Backroad AlmanacFri, Nov 1, 2024 · 6:00 am

Hawk-flight weather at Lighthouse Point Park Saturday: north-northwest winds 13 mph behind a cold front

Hawk watchers count the most birds on northwest winds a day or two after a cold front (Hawk Mountain Sanctuary). On the coast those winds crowd hawks and falcons along the shoreline. November is the month for red-tailed hawks and golden eagles.

About 30 miles from Home.

Per National Weather Service New York City/Upton forecast for Lighthouse Point Park; hawk-flight weather as described by Hawk Mountain Sanctuary and Braddock Bay Raptor Research.

Sample alert: a real November weekend at Lighthouse Point in New Haven, CT, rebuilt from the airport’s weather records.

Three more sample alerts from this pack

Backroad AlmanacFri, Mar 6, 2026 · 11:25 am

Mar 6 count: 65,000 snow geese at Middle Creek, up from 8,000 Mar 3

The Game Commission counts the birds on the lake at daybreak, and big flocks can leave within a day or two, especially on warm south winds. Willow Point is the viewing area; the best show is at sunrise and when the flocks come back in the afternoon.

“Snow Geese: 65,000; Tundra Swans: 1000; Canada Geese: 2200”

Per Pennsylvania Game Commission, Middle Creek snow goose and waterfowl migration update, as of Fri Mar 6, 11 am.

Sample alert: a real March count at Middle Creek in Lancaster County, PA, from Pennsylvania Game Commission records.

Backroad AlmanacThu, May 28, 2026 · 6:00 am

Horseshoe crab nights at Milford Point Fri–Sun: night high tides 11:12 pm to 12:29 am, full moon Sunday

Survey teams arrive about 30 minutes before high tide and watch until an hour after; spawning is heaviest near the new and full moon, after dark, when the water is calm. Keep lights pointed down, step around the crabs (turn one over by the edge of its shell, never the tail), and stay off the beach in a thunderstorm.

Per NOAA tide predictions (station 8466791), moon phases and the National Weather Service New York City/Upton forecast; spawning timing as described by Project Limulus and the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission.

Sample alert: a real full-moon weekend at Milford Point, CT, rebuilt from NOAA tide predictions and Bridgeport airport’s weather records.

Backroad AlmanacThu, Apr 9, 2026 · 6:00 am

Flowering cherries, crabapples and redbud should reach peak bloom near you around Tuesday

On UMass Extension’s indicator-plant list, flowering cherry, crabapple and redbud reach full bloom at 100–149 degree days (base 50°F). Blossoms last about a week; rain and wind shorten it.

Per UMass Extension indicator plants, with temperatures from NOAA’s Regional Climate Centers (RCC-ACIS) and the NWS forecast.

Sample alert: a real April week in Boston, MA, rebuilt from NOAA Regional Climate Center temperature records.

How many emails? A real year

A Wildlife & Nature reader at a home in Charlestown, RI would have gotten 75 emails from January through October 2026, about 1½ a week: 48 from Wildlife & Nature (mostly bird spectacles, seals & horseshoe crabs and peak bloom) and 27 with only free alerts (waterfalls running and license renewals).

Wildlife & Nature alertsFree alerts only

Emails each month, 2026
Month	Emails	Free alerts only
January	4	0
February	3	1
March	8	2
April	11	0
May	11	2
June	6	4
July	5	5
August	3	3
September	12	5
October	12	5

We ran that year's real weather and agency records through the same rules that send our alerts. Where an alert reads a forecast, the weather that actually came stood in for it. The busiest month was September, with 12. You can turn off any alert you don't want.

Common questions

What’s the best day to visit a hawk watch?

In fall, the first days after a cold front, on northwest winds. In spring, warm south to southwest winds. We read the forecast at 21 hawk watches and email you ahead of the good days near you.

When are the snow geese at Middle Creek?

They stop at Middle Creek in Pennsylvania on their way north in late winter. The Game Commission counts the birds at daybreak, and from January to March we email when a count reaches 5,000 snow geese or 1,000 tundra swans.

Where can I see seals in winter?

At low tide, when they haul out on the rocks. We email weekend low tides at six public seal-watching spots, November to April.

When do horseshoe crabs spawn?

On evening high tides around the new and full moons in late May and June. We email the best nights at 16 survey beaches.

Updated November 2026.

Not ready? Get the free Sunday email and a few free alerts

The Weekly Almanac every Sunday morning: what's coming up near you that week. Plus free alerts for waterfalls running after rain, meteor showers with clear skies, and fishing and hunting license renewals. No card needed.

Questions?

Write to support@backroadalmanac.com and a person answers.