September 27, 1990 - Sharp Eyes Way Up on Hawk MountainSeptember 27, 1990 • The Suffolk Times C1 T
Sharp Eyes Way Up on Hawk Mountain
By Paul Stoutenburah
Come sit atop a mountain with us as
we watch for hawks. About this time of
year the jet stream dips and the tempera-
ture falls. Put this together with a
northwest wind and you have the ideal
conditions for a hawk migration. So it
was last Tuesday when a friend of mine
and I headed for Hook Mountain State
Park just up past Tappan Zee Bridge on
the ridges that dominate the western
shore of the Hudson River.
Those high outposts form the ideal
conditions for hawks to migrate on. The
air currents, called kettles, provide the
lift for thousands of hawks passing
through on their way south. Once in
these kettles the birds rise higher and
higher, sometimes almost going out of
sight. Then they peel out and drift ef-
fortlessly to the west and south, miles
and miles away, looking for another
lift.
We wanted to try to beat the morning
rush hour on the expressway (if that's
ever possible) so we settled on six for
our starting time. A month or so ago it
would have been light at 5:30 when the
alarm went off, but today the sun was
already on its way south to spend the
winter, leaving us with shorter days and
early morning darkness.
Park, Walk and Climb
Two and a half hours later found us
parked alongside the road with other
cars. Someone driving by would surely
wonder why these cars were parked in an
isolated wooded area along the side of
the road. Few would realize hawks had
drawn us. "Here's where we go up," my
friend said as he turned into a small
opening that led up into the woods.
How different the terrain was from our
East End. Jagged rocks poked out of the
forest floor all along the way. Up, up,
up we climbed.
Beautiful oaks and hickories lined the
trail. Occasionally we'd stop to catch
our breath for we were loaded down with
lunch, binoculars, camera gear and
chairs. The chairs were suggested be-
cause we might be waiting for hours be-
fore the birds came through. Later I was
glad the suggestion was made, it did add
a bit of comfort in preference to the
jagged rocks we would have had to sit
on.
At the top we found three or four en-
thusiasts already camped out with their
chairs and paraphernalia, and high up on
the top of two poles were plastic and
Classes for Canines
PECONIC —The Southold Recreation
Department will offer beginner and ad-
vanced dog obedience classes beginning
on Thursday, Oct. 4. The eight -week
course will be held at the Southold
Town Recreation Center, Peconic Lane,
Peconic. Beginner classes start at 7:15
p.m.; advanced at 8:30.
The cost of the course is $40 per dog.
To register, call 765 -5182.
Focus on
Nature
stuffed great horned owls. These would
lure the closer hawks in so we could
have a better view of them as they
passed. The men were all dressed
warmly for there was a snap of coolness
in the air.
My friend knew them because this
was one of his old stomping grounds.
"How's it going ?" "Well, we've seen
some — mostly sharpies and broad
wings." These were hawks in birders'
language. The sharp - tailed hawk is a
small woodland hawk, fast, rounded
wings and long tail for easy maneuver-
ing in the woods and low brush. A
broad - winged hawk is a larger hawk,
crow size with rounded wings and not
seen too often here on the East End.
What we had hoped for was one of the
"big days" when this area would play
host to thousands of broad - winged
hawks on their way south.
We set up our chairs so we could see
to the north. It was here we'd pick up
birds as they moved through. Below us
was the broad Hudson River where we
could see a tiny tugboat pulling a barge.
It hardly seemed to be moving. An
osprey was sighted as it caught the air
and lifted up and over for our view.
Later we'd see other ospreys, some even
carrying fish as they drifted off to the
west.
Closer and Closer
Often we'd watch a speck in the dis-
tance come along closer and closer until
it literally zoomed over our heads as it
made a pass at the owl decoy. Not every
bird did this but the ones that did come
close gave us a great view as they swept
in to investigate. Now a large bird
across the river captured all the birders'
attention. It was so large and so big it
had to be an eagle, an immature one.
The day before they had seen three bald
eagles. Before the day was out, we'd see
two.
More people started to drift in. Three
ladies joined us from the Rockland
Audubon Society. Special hawks were
pointed out and all the glasses immedi-
ately swung to help identify them. One
time it was a Cooper's hawk, another
woodland hawk something like the
sharpie but a bit larger with a slightly
different configuration. Then reports
came in of three or four broad wings off
to the left over the onion (a water tower
used as a landmark). Then kestrels came
by.
"Did you get that sharpie that went
around in back of us ?" someone called.
"You're keeping track of them, aren't
you?" Seems each person had his or her
own species assignment. This was no
mere casual sightseeing trip for these
birders. They were dead serious and
counting and recording everything.
It was part of the annual hawk
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Photo by Paul Stoutenburgh
HAWK WATCHING —With chairs and lunchboxes it looks like a
relaxing pastime, but this is serious business for these hawk watchers.
migration count that would later be
published to give us an indicator of how
our modern, stressed world is making
out. Our tally started to climb. Seventy
hawks — then 90, but sorry to say,
nothing like the day before when they
had 1,729 broad - winged hawks and 121
others.
We ate our lunch and lounged in the
warmth of the now noonday sun.
Clearly we wouldn't have a "big day."
By one o'clock we had tallied 164
hawks. It was time for us to go. Again
we wanted to beat the traffic.
It is through dedicated watchers like
these along the whole eastern seaboard
that we get some idea of how the bird
population is doing. It was a privilege
to be with them, plus I'd found another
spot where one can go to see the annual
hawk migration.
P.S. The next day the weather held
and from the same spot they had over
3,000 broad - winged hawks pass within
an hour. Someday I'm going to be there
on one of those "big days" but until
then I'll be satisfied just going hawk-
ing.
p
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