My wife and I visited Hawk Mountain in Pennsylvania this past weekend. It was a bit crowded but a good day for a diverse group of raptor sightings. We saw Sharp-Shinned, Red-Tailed and Cooper's Hawk, Merlin, Kestrel, Turkey vulture and Osprey.
Many classes are offered at Hawk Mountain from elementary level to college credited courses. We sat in on a 25 minute class on basic raptor identification which was helpful to us being new to raptor watching. After this basic class we went from not being able to identify much at all to easily narrowing it down to families in most cases. I never knew the differences in the families but it isn't as subtle as I had once thought. I can see that it will take much more practice when it comes to distinguishing the differences in similiar birds within families but with time I feel confident we will get it.
We were here for only a couple hours and while some birds came fairly close I didn't get good pics of them. I am a bit rusty of my bird in flight shooting. If I had been here about 6-8 hours I am sure that my keeper rate would have improved.Next time...
Thanks to all the staff and volunteers at Hawk Mountain for a great experience. The staff at the North face were very helpful and identification. With their help we were able to confirm 8 species otherwise we might have not been sure of. Merlin was a first for me so I was very thrilled with the help. The intern which led the class in raptor ID was great as well. I picked up a raptor flash guide, Hawk Mountain patch and Hawk Mountain sweatshirt at their giftshop/ vistors center. There is something there for all ages. If you are thinking of a visiting, check out their website at
http://www.hawkmountain.org/
The Raptor Conservancy of Virginia was at a local festival today here in Winchester, Va. With the help of many volunteers they rescue hundreds of raptors a year. Often as possible the birds are rehabilitated and released back to the wild. The raptors you see here are in some way not suitable for return to the wild such as bad eyes, wings, etc. They do however serve a very important purpose in education. What magnificent creatures! It was a pleasure to see these wonderful birds. Thanks to Mr. Knowles, Liz and all the RCV staff for doing what they do. For more information check out their website. RCV
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