Birding enthusiasts like Peter Collins deserve a round of applause and a word of thanks from all of us. Peter leads a Hawk Watch initiative in Tubac, Arizona. Each year for the entire month of March he can be found at the community park in Tubac from 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Today he told us that he occasionally will go to the park in the evening to catch the hawks and vultures circle the area to find a roosting place for the night. Dedicated people like Peter are known by but a few birders. His contribution to the science of ornithology is felt by many.
Today Dana and I were among about 35 participants and observers at the Tubac Hawk Watch. Peter Collins was there to lead the watch. He also was active in ensuring everyone was aware of the birds in the air. Whenever a Common Black Hawk was spotted, Peter would yell out to everyone at the park, "Common Black Hawk in the air" and give the detail on where in the air one could find the bird. Of course it was not only Common Black Hawks that were spotted on this day. Here is a list of the approximate numbers that were spotted and identified:
Common Black Hawks - 14
Zone-tailed Hawks - 2
Red-tailed Hawks - 13
Turkey Vultures - 8
Black Vultures - 6
Osprey - 1
Coopers Hawk - 1
Dana and I found ourselves front and centre at the watch. Equipped with our binoculars and I think given our experience participating in the Tubac Hawk Watch last year and the Eastern Oregon Audubon Hawk Watch last September, we felt capable and confident in spotting incoming birds and offering identification of same. Dana nailed several identifications before anyone else. Spotting a bird a mile away and knowing that it is Common Black Hawk and not a Red-tailed Hawk or a Black Vulture is not easy. Getting it right is "priceless"!
In addition to all the birds migrating north on this day we were treated to viewing about 8 Gray Hawks that have taken up residency in the big cottonwoods that line the Santa Cruz river which is next to the community park. These birds are slightly larger than Coopers Hawks but quite a bit smaller than a Red-tailed Hawk. Throughout the morning we were treated to their aerobatic flying over the cottonwoods. Gray Hawks are also quite vocal. At times it seemed that there were many more than the 8 or so that were confirmed.
Although most of the hawks and vultures flew high over our location as they caught the thermal highway north, unexpectedly one Common Black Hawk decided to fly low over our location. You should have heard the camera shutters clicking when that bird made a pass over our heads at about 100 feet in the air. I think there were probably 10 or so serious photographers on hand (I'll include myself in that category). It sounded like paparazzi at Pamela Anderson photo-op. No offence to Pam, who is a fine Canadian gal, I think our bird was better looking,,,,
I didn't get a lot of photos this day. Here are two memorable ones. I hope you enjoy them.
Happy birding!
Ciao!
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| Common Black Hawk at the Tubac Hawk Watch |
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| I capture this image of a young Gray Hawk as it perched on a Cottonwood tree. It is not a great image as the bird was high in the tree and the light was poor. |
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