V19 N36

I
fear that regular readers of this column
are about to be treated to a run-on series
of hawk watch related columns. First,
Cape May is one of the few locations
where migrating hawks concentrate in
migration. You could spend a lifetime studying
birds and not see the number of hawks an
observer can study in a single hour on a good
flight day. Second, I consider birds of prey
the most fascinating of all bird groups. Third,
watching hawks demands little effort. You
sit on the hawk watch platform and the birds
come to you. And finally, hawks are not the
only birds passing in review. There are hordes
of Tree Swallows, periodic bursts of shorebirds
and the ever-present possibility that
something rare might fly by. Saturday we were
treated to the passage of a Sandhill Crane, a
large stately bird found in the Western United
States. You need not worry about your rudimentary
field identification skills. There are
lots of experienced eyes on the platform and
everyone freely shares their knowledge.
Hawk watching above all other brands
Bird Droppings
Dispatches from the nation’s birdwatching capital… by Seymore Thanu
of birding is highly social. Every trip to the
hawk watch puts me in contact with hosts of
old friends and new acquaintances. Just like
a hawk flight, no two days have the same mix
of observers. On Saturday, I had the opportunity
to spend the afternoon with Dr. Joe Jell,
author of the Birds of Churchill (Manitoba) and
authority on grebes and Thayer’s Gull (now
a subspecies of Iceland Gull but formerly
considered a distinct species). Joe, a Thayer’s
Firster invited my opinion which sides with
the lumpers, not the splitters, but despite our
differing regard, we had a spirited discussion,
in which I was much the junior partner.
Despite our 10-year age difference, Joe and I
shared the same mentor, Floyd Wolfarth.
On Sunday, surrounded by an assembly
of former Cape May hawk counters, I was
treated to a visit from my close friend and
New Jersey Audubon board member Wayne
Greenstone, one of the kindest, gentlest, people
to draw breath. We chatted for three hours
about books, birds, environmental concerns
and his late wife Else, hawk counter at the
Montclair Hawk watch and one of the finest
hawk counters to raise binoculars toward the
sky. Else’s eyes were amazing were able to
locate birds that were barely sub-orbital.
Even if you don’t know anyone on the
platform, it is impossible to not be engaged
and engaging. Kick back and enjoy one of
nature’s grandest spectacles. I hope to see you
on the watch and raise glasses together under
raptor-filled skies.
October 14, 2021 EXIT ZERO Page 39