April 9 2019. Niagara Peninsula Hawk Watch, Beamer Conservation Area, Grimsby, ON. Nothing quite like a lively wind to mix things up a bit. Today the wind surged out of the west at 20 Kmh at what a mariner might call Force 4, a Moderate Breeze. The sort of breeze that raises dust or loose paper and sends migrating hawks swooping and surfing. I know that because I found various raptor species scattered far and wide today; they were not over our hawk watch where we wait for and expect them. The hawk watch is a point of high land overlooking the narrowest part of the of Lake Ontario shoreline, a natural focal point on a flyway.
Driving a dusty country road, I noticed this Red-tailed Hawk hanging like a kite, riding a ridge-wave that rose from the steep face of a limestone quarry.
Later, as I sat trying to re-find an Eastern Meadowlark, a female Northern Harrier skimmed overhead, barely clearing the tops of scrubby hawthorns. I could hardly follow her scudding course and in no time, she was gone. But in that fleeting glimpse she became my Bird of the Day. This was a very lucky shot and shows well the distinctive white rump.
The sky was dotted with Turkey Vultures being tossed around and rocking from side to side as they blew by. Forty years ago, we counted less than 300 Turkey Vultures at the hawk watch, this year we have already counted more than 5,000. Why?
At the hawk watch, Sharp-shinned Hawks and Cooper’s Hawks skipped, while Red-tailed Hawks laboured, over the tree-tops, driving hard into the headwind. Some way-high and unidentified falcons, maybe Merlins maybe American Kestrels, had us scratching our heads. While others were still debating the falcons, a first of the year Osprey swept past to share My Bird of the Day honours with the earlier Northern Harrier.
