Look Up, But Look Out - It's Contagious!
By Steve Anderson
They are riding a transcontinental roller coaster in the sky. |
Unconcerned and oblivious to the earth-bound creatures below and their activities, the hawks are doing nothing more or less than what they always have done and always will do. It is exactly what they must do - head south to their wintering grounds. Today they are moving in large numbers, and they are wasting no time. Not only do the hawks have an urgent purpose; they also possess an exquisite method. They soar to gain altitude and they glide to cover ground, and then repeat the simple two-step procedure over and over again. They are riding a transcontinental roller coaster in the sky. The lift to the top is provided either by rising columns of heated air called thermals or by updrafts caused when moving air strikes against land formations. Wind and gravity combine to supply the force for the long downward rush. This elegant method of soaring up and gliding down enables the birds to travel a great distance with little effort. They hold the proverbial patent on energy efficient migration, making their way from the woods of Canada to the tropical forests of South America in less than a month's time with remarkably few flaps of the wing. |
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To observe this incredible spectacle is to participate in it. |
To observe this incredible spectacle is to participate in it. And so you do, those of you who have been cursed (or is it blessed?) with Hawk Watching Fever. It is now 4 p.m., and your tally totals over five thousand two hundred birds, almost all of them Broad-wings. A smattering of Red-tails, Sharp-shins, Cooper's Hawks, Kestrels, Ospreys, Turkey Vultures, Harriers, and three Bald Eagles account for the remainder. Exhausted yet exhilarated you decide to call it a day - and what a day it's been! You got your medicine, and the fever has subsided, but it will return. "Hey, what's everybody doing tomorrow?" |
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Steve Anderson is a self-employed carpenter who lives in Northboro, Massachusetts. He likes to write and loves to watch hawks. Steve can be reached at scander@gis.net. |
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