OFO Hawk Cliff trip
It was a lovely, albeit chilly (1C) morning as I headed towards Hawk Cliff just outside of St. Thomas. The frost was heavy on the ground, but the sun was peaking on the horizon. With light winds from the northeast, conditions seemed favourable for watching hawks and late fall migrants next to the cliff. These kinds of winds move the birds closer to the cliff for better viewing according to Pete Read, our esteemed leader and world traveller! The drive down the hill towards the cliff started with a sweet surprise, a group of Cedar Waxwings on a tree! Of course my battery of my camera died at just the right time, but I was able to get a few backlit shots before they flew off.
I met about 30 OFO members on the viewing platform for a group photo! There were several groups there and it was pretty crowded at first. We learned about the past weeks sightings from hawk watchers and official counters.
Dave Brown indicated the strategic areas that the watchers would call out such as 'slope' , a spot where the forest trees drop in height dramatically. For example, calls such as "TV's in the slope" got us all looking in the right place. There were other directional spots like 'Maple Tree' ,' Flicker Tree. 'dead elm' and 'the gap'. all used to give us the general direction of where certain birds are soaring above. You also had to know which species they were referring to like 'TV, shin, Coop' and other endearing terms. (Pete Read)
We were treated to close flyovers of Golden Eagle fairly soon, with 4 being seen by the group. We were also spoiled by multiple flocks of TV's with Shin's and Red Tails intermixed as the Turkey vultures found thermals to ride over our heads. There was an early appearance of American Goshawk which flew, much to our delight, low over the parking lot. Several Rough Legged and Red Shouldered Hawks as well as a few Cooper's hawks thrown in for good measure. A couple of late moving Broadwing Hawks surprised the counters and the crowds. No falcons were spotted today. While many great soaring sightings made us open our mouths in awe, we quickly shut our mouths as the air warmed to 12C which uplifted thousands of midges to swarm around us!
Many flocks of Red winged blackbirds and Common Grackles passed over head, as well as some flocks of small passerines, Pine Sisken I believe. One of the best things about this outing was the number of families with young children, and a group of teens were present. Great to see!
Pete took us for a walk through Hawk Cliff woods after lunch when things calmed down a bit on the platform. We saw many Golden and Ruby Crowned Kinglets, as well as Downy, Hairy and Red Bellied woodpecker. The typical woodland birds were present, Brown Creeper, White Breasted Nuthatch, Hermit Thrush and many 'Butter Butts' (Yellow Rumped Warbler) I went for an early morning walk in the woods and saw and heard Fox sparrow and many White Throated Sparrows. Pete gave us inspirational descriptions of the fabulous Carolinian trees present, it is indeed a magical woods, Thanks to Thomas Talbot Land Trust for preserving this area. There is also a banding station on site and during their annual Hawk Cliff Weekends hosted by the St. Thomas Field Naturalists, Hawk Cliff Raptor Banders and volunteers of Monarch watch (yes Monarch butterflies are banded here!)
After we returned, Pete was chatting with a local visitor who had spotted a Northern Saw Whet Owl as he was photographing the Kinglets! He let us know, one by one, and he encouraged us to go carefully and quietly up the narrow footpath, he had placed a large stick across the path were we were to stop (10 m away from the bird) who was hidden deep in the brush but at eye level. It took a while for us to get on the bird, but as soon as one person got on and took a pic, they moved on so as not to affect the bird by our presence. It was nice to see young families being able to see such a special bird (lifer for me!). The wee one did not seem disturbed at all and was asleep by the time I got to it.
All in all it was a great, sunny, fall birding day! It was good to see some familiar faces as well as meet new people. Special thanks to Dave Brown and Tom Bolohan as well as the other offical hawk counters for being such gracious hosts. Pete, Dave and Tom were excellent at teaching us what markers to look for in identifying species in flight. Body shape and size as well as white spots on the undersides of the wings are key i.d factors.
I left feeling elated and awe struck by the beauty around us.
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