Peak migration occurs in mid-October when the greatest variety of avian species can be seen; golden eagles, red-shouldered hawks and more are common. The migration pears down in mid-December although some eagles, goshawks and rough-legged hawks have been sighted even in January. The birders have it down to a science, "in mid October, you have a 96 percent chance of seeing a sharp-shinned hawk. In early September, you have just over a 50% chance of seeing a bald eagle." (www.hawkmountain.org). Even if you don't manage to make it during peak migration, the hiking trails and views of the Pennsylvania countryside are well worth the trip. In fact, 8 miles of trail can be taken from the base of Hawk Mountain, the Skyline Trail even connects to the Appalachian Trail, our old friend.
The sanctuary offers a great many lectures and programs led by distinguished ornithologists and biologists so check out the program list before you go. Mike and I simply notified the gift shop attendant that we would be leaving our car in the parking lot overnight and headed on up the mountain to the key birding spots. On the way up from an overlook we saw the River of Rocks, a mile long glacier deposited boulder field (some boulders over 20 feet long!)
(You can see the River of Rocks here in the distance)
We joined about 20 other birders at the top who quietly waited for those traveling on wind currents to pass overhead and then someone bedecked entirely in khaki, with hair protruding impossibly far from random orifices (it's how you know they are wise and expert birders) would quietly say, "Osprey above peak number 4, to the left of the large cumulus," or, "Sharpy (short for Sharp-Shinned Hawk) at 2:00 directly above the North Ridge," and then everyone would swivel their heads, binoculars attached at all times, to get a look at the beautiful visitor from above. Even monarch butterflies and flocks of jays were noted. A large stuffed Great Horned owl stood watch atop a tall post, causing raptors to dip low and challenge the foe over the heads of the onlookers.
Hawk Mountain wasn't always a place of study, reflection, repose and calm. No Sireee. Before it's inception as a refuge in 1934, Hawk Mountain used to be a death trap for migrating birds. Men found sport in shooting them out of the sky until the land stunk with the rot of thousands of hawks, eagles, osprey and falcons. The devils disguised in overalls would get $5 for every raptor shot because they were deemed as pests that would eat crops and damage livestock. The idiots didn't even stop to notice that the birds were passing through, not coming over for an extended stay. Why this lunacy? I believe that the fact that this genocide occurred can be summed up best by Hobbes, ""...in the first place, I put for a general inclination of all mankind, a perpetual and restless desire of power after power, that ceaseth only in death." Story goes, as the conservation effort was just getting off the ground, photographer Richard Pough came to Hawk Mountain and photographed the carnage resulting from the massive slaughter of the birds. His photographs were seen by, among others, New York resident and conservationist Rosalie Edge who founded the sanctuary.
Hawk Mountain holds in it's history the best and worst of the human spirit and shines as a light for future conservation efforts to aspire towards. Animals are never the enemy, if they don't fit in with man's plan, it is because he has disrupted the harmony in which they exist.
xo.
ReplyDelete