Yesterday, in words

Yesterday, three of us went to Hawk Cliff, near Port Stanley, Ontario to check out one of the major hawk-sighting locations of North America.

Luckily for me, the Toronto Star was kind enough to send a reporter on Saturday, who provided this report, which covers a lot of territory. I invite you to check it out - it is quite informative.

Unfortunately, the weather conditions on Sunday weren't as ideal as those on Saturday, so we didn't see as many low-flying raptors as they did the day before, but it was still spectacular and awe-inspiring. The highlights were the osprey, which flew just over the treetops minutes after our arrival, and, with the benefit of Rob's scope, seeing a couple of "kettles" in which dozens of hawks circle together, riding a thermal higher and higher so they can reach great altitudes and glide southward for miles and miles while conserving their energy. A kettle can best be described as "a tornado of hawks" and it is exhilarating to see, even if you need binoculars to do so.

They also had demonstrations where they brought raptors which had been captured for banding. We saw sharp-shinned hawks, American kestrels, a Northern harrier, and a red-tailed hawk. I got to briefly touch the red-tailed hawk, and I can tell you it feels as soft as a cat, though of course the texture is different.

As the afternoon warmed, the raptors were flying so high as to be invisible to the naked eye, so the three of us left Hawk Cliff and moseyed over to the Long Point Bird Observatory. We saw a few raptors here and there along the way (including - according to Rob, an experienced birder - a bald eagle). Long Point was very cool, and offered different kinds of birdwatching; we saw a number of warblers in the trees and we saw sandlings along the beach. Tim and I, novice birdwatchers, struggled just to get birds within the sights of our "bins" (as we were told at Hawk Cliff was the insider's jargon for "binoculars"), never mind actually identifying its species or even its distinguishing markings, but it was all good, and we enjoyed our time out in nature.

The whole day was quite relaxing and enjoyable, with very good company and conversation.