I haven’t had the chance to get out onto the mountain again since mid September, and autumn is just flying by like a falcon.  I’ve gotten back onto the listserve again. It’s changed a few times since I was on it back in the ninetees. Birdhawk, it’s called now. You can find a link to it at HMANNA.org. You can also find links and maps to a hawk watch near you. Back in the mid to late nintees I had more time on my hands to stand on Stone Mountain, Hawk Mountain, Bald Eagle Mountain, and just spend the day scanning the skies. I miss that sort of leisure time, but it’s a goal I can move toward in my life again.

More about all of that later. I wanted to mention a juvenile Bald that I saw on the way home from the restaurant one day last week. She was not a migrant; she was flying northeast, but she was worth stopping to look at, even worth ignoring the Red Tailed heading the opposite direction that actually might have been migrating. I pulled off the road after the bridge on 147 between Lewisburg and Sunbury. and luckily my son’s Nikons were in the trunk. By the markings, it might have been one of the juvies we saw from the boat a few weeks before, but maybe not. If I recall correctly from my reading, they may have quite a range up and down the river.

Made me think of an adult flying the same direction right over the restaurant in Lewisburg this Summer. He (and I don’t know the gender of these birds– I’m not that good) soared with no flap of the wing from the river right over us while we were putting the cushions out on the outside iron furniture. Yep, you guessed it, while looking up, I smacked me knee quite hard. Ah well, the scenery is often worth the pain.