Hamburg’s Hawk Watch in Full Flight

As I was driving home on Wednesday, I noticed a guy standing in a field, with a spotting scope, not far from our house in Hamburg. I had some time and curiosity got the best of me. I pulled a u-turn and headed back in his direction.

Last year, I had seen a few others in the same area with the same gear gazing toward the sunlit sky. Waiting for a shuttle? Watching for their friends flight to arrive? What were these folks up to?

AS I pulled in to the driveway, I pulled along side the man with the high powered optics. I introduced myself and got right to the point. "Excuse me sir, what are you looking for?" I asked.

Long story short, Jim Landau is the Coordinator, Hamburg Hawk Watch.

From March until around May 15th, Jim and his colleagues will be posted, clipboard in hand, waiting for the "raptor/hawk" migration!

That's it! I have been seeing dozens (turns out it's more like thousands) of birds soaring near the lake in Hamburg.

I spoke with Jim for twenty minutes before I had to run off to a meeting. But wow, did I learn so much in just a few short minutes.

The sunshine and warmer spring air just off of the shoreline offers the perfect updrafts or thermal pockets that give these majestic birds the right conditions for their trip back north. The cool air over Lake Erie offers just the right balance and compass coordinates to keep this tradition coming back our way every year!

While we were chatting, Jim offered his binoculars to when he paused during his informative mini lesson on hawk migration.  "That's a good bird right there," Jim exclaimed. As I grabbed the binoculars and looked to the sky where he had pointed, there it was...a beautiful adult, Red Shouldered Hawk!!! What an amazing and unforgettable moment.

As we spoke and exchanged information, Jim went on to point out other hawks soaring overhead. Most of them, a standard turkey vulture. But according to Jim, there had been hundreds prior to me pulling in to greet him. "If you watch long enough, you may catch a bald eagle migrating over," Landau professed.

What an incredible Wednesday morning! I left with a new appreciation for the beauty of these large birds and a new understanding of what is happening in nature even when we aren't taking the time to look up!The watch continues in Hamburg for the next month and a half.

Jim was gracious enough to forward me the latest totals, including Wednesday's numbers!