Hawks

HAWKS EARL PLATO
Do you have friends up North? That’s the domain of our largest accipter, the Goshawk. This is a most powerful hawk that will even attack humans during breeding season. From Teale’s January 12th log we read, “The gray goshawk is back in the hickory tree. ... I spend a long time watching this large and handsome bird of prey. From its coal black crown and the striking white stripe above its eye, down to its blue-gray back and laterally streaked silver-gray underparts, to its long, nearly square tail, it is a bird streamlined for velocity. We see it rocking on a topmost branch turning its head and taking stock with its brilliant orange eyes of all the scene around him.”
Writer’s note: I have been to Hawk Mountain in central Pennsylvania and saw in their museum the photos of thousands of these Goshawks and other hawk species shot annually doing spring and fall migration times. These photos were taken back in Depression time in America. Back then it seemed the only good hawk was a dead one! Goshawks typically attacked poultry farms. The state offered a bounty of $5.00 for every Goshawk destroyed. Back in the Depression Thirties this was a significant sum.
“We see it drop from its high perch in the hickory tree. In a long accelerating dive it cuts through the air like a rapier. We feel the thrill of the plunge. We follow every movement of this bird - so swift so graceful - so beautiful in flight.” Unlike its cousins the Cooper and Sharpshinned hawks it preys mainly on larger birds. Grouse and quail, and yes robins and flickers, bluejays and mourning doves are some of its usual fare. It also snatches up squirrels and rabbits. No other hawk is so audacious but today it is protected as it should be. Comments? Call me at 905-894-2417 or E-mail - plato1@vaxxine.com
Writer’s Note: Got my hawk fix on the Q.E.W. just past the Sodom Road cutoff heading west. Four Redtails, a Sharp-shinned and flying overhead a Marsh hawk (Northern harrier).