Thursday brought us our first Golden Eagle of the season, a juvenile, which certainly brought excitement to an otherwise slow week of hawk-watching. We are still seeing a number of immature Bald Eagles. Charlie Plimpton, our Bay-watcher, took this amazing shot last week:
Steve Thornhill got a great photo of this immature Bald Eagle with a meal on the go:
The Golden Eagles are quite similar to immature Balds.
"Best field marks are golden hackles, legs feathered to toes, head projection less than half tail length, and tri-colored bill and cere."
(A Photographic Guide to North American Raptors, Wheeler & Clark)
We are still enjoying seeing a steady stream of accipiters and a handful of Peregrines.
Steve Thornhill
"The Place"
Turn back in time a thousand years or more;
An Indian stands upon this very shore.
The virgin forest that surrounds him sings
With hidden whispers of a million wings.
No human foot before his trod this place;
The wonder of it's written on his face.
He speaks in awe, but no one hears his words,
"This place is Kiptopeke, the place of birds."
(Kiptopeke Chronicles, Walter Post Smith)
Walter Post Smith was a founding bander of the Kiptopeke Bird Banding Station and was its primary champion from the 1960s through the 1990s.
We also viewed a lone Sandhill Crane last week, a fairly rare sight this time of year.
The Monarch numbers moving through are increasing, and have kept our Monarch tagger quite busy this week.
Please join us at the Hawk Tower and enjoy the beautiful fall weather on the Eastern Shore.
Hope to see you soon!
-Caroline
