Two Great Birds

NN1105cedarwaxwings Earl Plato

We saw some Cedar waxwings at Marcy Woods . Beautiful as the woods were now my thoughts turned to Algonquin Park. I can’t help it. I love the Park as many of you do. As we were walking in one of the side trails off the main highway waxwings passed through and some stopped for us to see. Do you know the story of Cedar waxwings? Jim Mountjoy of Algonquin Park shares this, “... the waxy feather tips of Cedar waxwings are the red badge of age, usually being well developed in birds that are two years of age or more. The matings of waxwings is not done randomly. Older, waxy winged birds mate with a similarly endowed birds, leaving the younger waxwings, inexperienced birds, to flounder along with each other as best they can. No doubt our older human males with their distinctive gray hair will be quick to see the justice here - “... the lesson is of course that the badge of age is also the badge of maturity and competence.” What about us guys who are going balder?
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In the recent January, 2005 magazine Birder’s World there was a photo of a Golden eagle, one of my most favourite raptor. The article entitled Where to Watch Golden Eagles tells of more and more Goldens taking an eastern route south during migration. Yes, at Hawk Mountain in central Pennsylvania is a place I have visited both physically and on line. Golden eagles, those magnificent birds , are coming east. At Cummings Nature Park near Rochester, New York and at the Simcoe Fair I was up close to tethered Golden eagles. You can find out from the Hawk Mountain Sanctuary website when these great birds return. The best time slots are mid-October and all of November. You can print out a daily record of the raptors returning and plan a trip. Just a warning the ascent to the top is rugged. It’s there you can best view the myriads of migrating raptors. Want an eagle fix? Plan for it.