Date: 11/1/26 12:04 pm From: Marc Chelemer <mchelemer...> Subject: [JERSEYBI] The thrill of the big raptor...writ thrice (753)
Jerseybirders,
Every birder has her or his own favorite way to enjoy our hobby. For some,
it’s a long traipse along a woodland trail filled with the sounds of late
spring passerines, singing their territorial or courtship songs. For
others, it’s ‘scoping ducks from the berms at Forsythe Refuge or thousands
of gulls on the ice at Spruce Run Reservoir. For others, it’s
“hawkwatching,” standing in one place along the migration pathway of
diurnal raptors, waiting and watching as they fly by, using the wind and
the thermals to maximum effect as they travel hundreds, sometimes thousands
of miles on their journey.
Saturday, Cliff Miller and I were among those latter birders: folks who
thrill to “things that eat meat.” We hiked to the Large Pile of Rocks on
the Appalachian Trail (yes, it’s named just that on Google Maps), also
known as Raccoon Ridge. The winds looked favorable, the skies looked
favorable, and the timing – the first day of northwest winds after days of
southwest air -- suggested a backlog of raptors just itching to move south.
We arrived before sunrise, having hiked the 2-3/4 miles from our car by
headlamp, and enjoyed flyover Siskins, Purple Finches, and hundreds of
Robins before the first raptor appeared: a big-bellied robust local female
Peregrine, kiting on the wind as she hunted in the cold morning air. With
the sun in the east, her position high in the air afforded a gorgeous view
of her steely gray plumage and dark mask. Over the next hour, we were
joined by the regular hawkwatchers who make the trek dozens of times a
season.
The raptors were few and far between, but around 10:00, I noted a bird far
off, which appeared to be a Red-tailed. We watched it for awhile as it
ceased circling and began moving towards us. Everyone recognized that I
had been wrong, but wrong in a very good way: hearts beating wildly, we
all shouted, simultaneously, when it showed itself, only 50 feet overhead,
as a juvenile American Goshawk, the first of the season at Raccoon
Ridge. Cameras
clicking wildly, we watched this huge accipiter gaining altitude and
gliding off to the southwest. High fives and excited exchanges followed…
…then doldrums set in for another nearly two hours, with only a smattering
of raptors or any birds other than a playful and talkative Raven to enliven
the beautiful day. Around Noon, a buteo was seen rising out of the
Delaware River valley. Again, it looked at first to be a juvenile
Red-tailed, but we all realized, again, that something was not quite right.
Not quite the right shape, not quite the right color: hawkwatching, even
after just a few hours, makes one recognize small differences in shape,
color, and behavior. Patiently, we awaited its approach and, huzzah, it
twisted just so as it rose on a thermal to show off black elbow patches and
brown body: a dark-morph Rough-legged Hawk. We watched this stunning
raptor as it also gained altitude until it was high overhead, then it, too,
cruised southwest down the ridge and out of sight. More high fives, more
excited talk: this may have been the first-ever dark morphed Rough-legged
ever, thought one gentleman. Soon, we were joking that all we needed now
was a Golden Eagle to complete the tri-fecta.
And, four minutes later, we were stunned to see an adult Golden Eagle
rising from the eastern side of the ridge and moving, again at low
altitude, right over our heads. Holy aquila, Batman! We all thrilled to
this glorious bird when I noticed that it kept turning its head to look
behind, and I told everyone that it seemed to be watching something that
way. Our gazes shifted and, lo and behold, ANOTHER Golden Eagle, this one
an immature with white wing patches and a white tail banded in black, was
in hot pursuit. The birds got into a dogfight right over us, wheeling and
diving on each other, until they reached a detente, set their wings, and
headed off in close company to climes downridge. What a show.
So: a close-up Goshawk, a close-up dark morph Rough-legged, perhaps the
first ever, and two Golden Eagles, all less than 100 feet up, in the space
of two hours. Despite fewer than 25 raptors in the half-day we were there,
most agreed this was one of the Best Days Ever on Raccoon Ridge. A day to
tell stories about for years to come…and here in this forum today.
