September 11 2012. Cootes Paradise, Hamilton ON. As a follow-up to yesterday’s note about the flood of Broad-winged Hawks, at a hawk-watch some 100 miles to our west they counted 5,575 of them! Today, by comparison, despite constant monitoring I saw only one Broad-winged Hawk in the air. Perhaps the brisk southwest wind made all the difference, because in all other respects the weather was a copy of yesterday. Or maybe they’ve all gone, save for a few stragglers.
I spent an hour or two this afternoon at a raised platform overlooking a broad marsh, I was hoping for a change in shorebird numbers and species mix, but it was pretty quiet. A dozen or so Greater Yellowlegs were stalking along the water’s edge and way off in the distance I watched two Red–necked Phalaropes swimming around furiously stirring up food.
The day’s drama came as I was getting ready to leave when I spotted a Red–tailed Hawk flying acrobatically in swoops and plunges, apparently taking advantage of the breeze. I realized that it was either chasing or displaying to something, spiraling up and then plunge-diving down into to the treetops with wings folded back and all but closed. Soon there were two interacting Red-tailed Hawks in the air and it looked like the sort of territorial display flight that you’d see in the spring; and maybe it was a bit of for-the-record pair-bonding. Finally a third one joined in though not for long, it carried on through, heading westward and out of sight, perhaps it’d just blundered through someone else’s territory. To top it off and perhaps as a final mark of approval of the aerobatic displays, an adult Bald Eagle took a slow ‘just-so-you-know-I’m-watching-you’ turn past the Red-tails.
