An Eagle or Two.

08 November 2019

     It was Judy who suggested we should go and look for eagles. 

     Sounded like a fine idea to me, so I canvassed the members of our Tuesday group, and had but two other takers, Miriam and Franc. The others had prior commitments or simply did not wish to go.

     The period covering the first two weeks of November is the prime time for southward movements of Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos). The winds have to be right, strong north-westerlies being ideal, and Friday's forecast seemed made to order. A consensus was reached; hawk watching we would go!

     Our destination was the aptly named Hawk Cliff, near the lakeside community of Port Stanley in Elgin County, hard by the upland contours of the land as it skirts along the north shore of Lake Erie. The conditions could not have been more perfect, both for migrating raptors and for human observers. At times hawk-watching can resemble nothing so much as an exercise in masochism, undertaken by people otherwise quite normal in their lives. Not so today. The sun shone, the temperature was a mere smidgen below zero, and the winds came as close to perfection as could be.

     Judy was the only one with an intimate knowledge of the area and she found a perfect clearing for us from which to scan the sky. A farmer had very obligingly cleared some of the corn from his field, and that which was left standing gave us a windbreak, and a clear view of the usual flight path of migrating raptors. 

       We set down our chairs and settled in to begin the vigil, warmly dressed, and with a thermos of hot coffee. Barely had our behinds nestled into the seat than Miriam said, "Two hawks coming in." And so began a non-stop movement that was as spectacular as any I have witnessed. Our chairs were not occupied again until lunch time!
     The sky was filled with birds; all the raptors we might hope to see. Additionally, hundreds of American Crows (Corvus brachyrynchos) were moving through and there was activity in every direction. Even when the passage of hawks and eagles slowed for a moment there was a constant stream of Turkey Vultures (Cathartes aura) which did not abate all day.

    I have to tell you that Judy is a retired anesthesiologist; a profession requiring a calm head and a steady hand. That description bore faint resemblance to "Hawk Watch Judy," who was as giddy as a newly emerged mayfly in summer. "Look here, David," she said, and as I did she yelled, "Oh, look over there." As my eyes pivoted she screamed, "Golden Eagle coming in to the left" - and so on. It was that kind of day. It was hawk watching at its very best.
    Red-tailed Hawks (Buteo jamaicensis) were the most numerous of the raptors, and we saw this polymorphic hawk in every plumage imaginable, and in every age class. We saw them high, we saw them low. At times they cruised above our head, and circled lazily: at other times they hurtled through as though they had a thermal to catch.

     Franc, fully expecting the birds to be higher, had taken a monopod and a larger lens than he normally would, and he felt he was hampered somewhat by his choice of equipment. Nevertheless, he achieved results for the record book, high quality images displaying the birds at their best. Ever modest, he demurs at the suggestion that we are mightily impressed with his results. I will let you be the judge.
     The holy grail of raptor watching in southern Ontario is without doubt  Golden Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos). Sometimes, even with dedicated effort, and freezing hands and feet, with face reddened from the biting wind, and several journeys to renowned locations, you can miss the migration entirely. Today we had five, possibly six individuals, since we were not quite sure whether one bird had doubled back on us.

     For those not familiar with the species, a Golden Eagle derives its name from its golden nape, clearly visible in the pictures above.
     We were all in awe. These birds cut through the winds like a hot knife through butter. They render you speechless with their strength and power. They are indeed royalty and we are but peasants in their presence.
     Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) is far more common than in times past, but it does not suffer at all from familiarity. It is an impressive bird by any measure, adult or juvenile.

     Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus) is not a species I see frequently during the breeding season, some years not at all, so a cohort of them on migration is always a welcome opportunity.

     As far as I recall we saw but one Northern Harrier (Circus hudsonius), and Franc managed to get a picture.

     There were small numbers of other raptors, including Merlin (Falco columbarius) and American Kestrel (Falco sparverius), but the main excitement is covered above.
     I wish to express my deep gratitude to Franc for downloading and editing his pictures so quickly. He set aside other files he was working on to get me these images for my blog. To Judy, "Thanks for suggesting the outing in the first place."
     The final shout-out I would offer is to Brian K. Wheeler for his book Raptors of the East which I reviewed for Princeton University Press when it was published last year. It simply is the very best. You need nothing else!