Woodland Cemetery, Burlington, ON. November 2. 2021. Early November brings abrupt changes after the sometimes heady days of October, now we meet reminders of winter to come. Not that it’s particularly cold these past two days but the skies are troubled and stirred by buffeting north-westerly winds. November is when the last of our south-bound migrants had better get a move on. Birders know these days for good sightings of birds of prey on the move: eagles and falcons in particular.
Not far from home, there is an elevated horseshoe of land that looks east and west over stretches of open water. Choose the right wind on the right day and these are good places to watch for migrant birds of all shapes and sizes. The cemetery is particularly good on days of strong westerly winds.
Yesterday a friend spent half a morning scanning the skies for some of those birds of prey, I turned down his suggestion that I might consider joining him, claiming that tidying the attic was more important. He sent me this brief text around lunchtime, “Adult GOEA just went over.” GOEA is shorthand for Golden Eagle, just about the Holy Grail of birding. Well, that’s the way it goes sometimes.
Today those strong westerlies continued, chilly winds that made finding a good windbreak important. I spent an hour or so in a such a spot watching for large birds on the move. I admired a pair of local Bald Eagles, an adult and a youngster, riding and slip-sliding the updrafts and a young Red-tailed Hawk hanging motionless on those same airs. And then came My Bird of the Day, a Peregrine Falcon. Circling overhead, one moment behind trees, next moment spiralling high up, it moved too fast for me to get a photograph. But no matter, a peregrine is a treat any day.