On Osprey Time

A hawk observer on Hawk Mountain, courtesy of Hawk Mountain Sanctuary. Observing large numbers of Ospreys and other raptors on their fall migration is a thrilling experience. One of the foremost hawk watches in the Northeast, famous for its spectacular autumn hawk flights, was established at Hawk Mountain, Kempton, PA. In 1929, the year of the market crash, the Pennsylvania Game Commission put a $5 bounty on goshawks. Goshawks sometimes preyed upon valuable game birds, so hunters aimed to eliminate them with their guns blazing. Two years later, amateur ornithologist and budding conservationist Richard Pough went on an outing to Hawk Mountain, the foremost autumn hawk watch on the Eastern Flyway. Pough, opposed to the wholesale slaughter of predators, especially predatory birds, was horrified by what he found. Hunters were standing shoulder to shoulder up the mountain trail shooting hundreds of passing hawks out of the sky for "sport." Richard Pough’s photographs of hundreds ...

Migrating juvenile Osprey at Hawk Mountain, courtesy of Cynthia Sedlacek. Earth’s magnetic field provides animals with a wealth of navigational information: the direction, intensity, and inclination decrease as you travel from the magnetic poles to the magnetic equator. It may also reveal the magnetic declination or the  angle  on the  horizontal plane  between  magnetic north  and  true north. These components make up the animal’s navigational map. The Route Fall is a restless time of year for birds in the northeast as millions instinctually have an uncontrollable urge to migrate thousands of treacherous miles past hungry predators, strong winds, and stormy weather to get to a safe tropical winter home with plentiful fish. Mortality rates during and just after migration are high: 60% of juvenile Ospreys perish from starvation or accidents before their second birthday. But Ospreys have no choice; they must leave the cold northern states and dwindling ...

Hurricane Ian, courtesy of NOAA. Each year in late August, September, and October, billions of birds face perilous migrations as they travel thousands of miles to wintering grounds south of the U.S. during hurricane season. Such storms' impact can be deadly for birds and humans, as whole colonies of young birds may be wiped out and their habitats destroyed. Nature can be brutal.  This week’s Category 4 Hurricane Ian ripped through the Gulf of Mexico, hitting the subtropical barrier islands of Sanibel, Captiva, and Fort Myers Beach with its full force, leaving massive destruction at the height of the fall bird migration. Sanibel is home to the J.N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge, part of the largest undeveloped mangrove ecosystem in the U.S. The refuge is world famous for its spectacular migratory bird populations and Florida’s iconic shorebirds and wading birds. Sanibel also hosts a large resident Osprey population as well as migrating Ospreys from the north.  Ho...