Gratitude Friday 11 21 25 – The Noble of the Northern Forest Skies

“One way to open your eyes is to ask yourself, "What if I had never seen this before? What if I knew I would never see it again?” ― Rachel Carson

This gratitude Friday I am writing about Raptors. When I say this, most people think I am talking about dinosaurs. A raptor is actually a bird of prey. Most people are thinking velociraptor. Related, although distant cousins, far removed. Bird watching is one of the few things I can do that stop the chatter in my head and holds my attention, so I stay in the moment. To watch birds is to be one with the forest. Spending time being one with the forest is a huge part of my self-care process. Forests and swamps are healing, at least to me. I need to spend time in nature for my mind, body, and spirit. A huge mass of wildlife moves south down the North America continent, traveling from the arctic all the way to South America in some instances. All happening right over our unaware heads at this time of year.

I am fortunate enough to live along the Blue Ridge Mountains that stretch in a rough north south orientation 550 miles along the eastern seaboard. The ridge is a mode of transportation for raptors. Winds hit this ridge and create lift; birds then move down the ridge for hundreds of miles, conserving energy along the way. Nature’s highway. On this ridge is Hawk Mountain, a legendary place in the realms of both conservation and ornithology. Research efforts on these hallowed grounds of ecological history helped save the Bald Eagle from extinction. Rachel Carson used data from the migration counts to show the relationship between post WWII use of DDT and the population crash of several raptor species. She did that with data and the power of the written word in her book, Silent Spring.

A few weeks back on a cold windy morning when we experienced the first snowfall in our area, I was up on Hawk Mountain looking out over the valley. It was not a good bird morning, but any morning spent on the mountain is a good one. I was nearly alone on the mountain with one other car in the lot. While I was standing there, a staff member came up. We spoke current migratory data on my favorite raptor,  the Northern Goshawk, (accipiter gentilis). He said they are now quite rare with only one being seen so far this year. That information broke my heart a little bit. This bird is special. Accipiter is "hawk" in Latin, from accipere, "to grasp", and gentilis is "noble.” This species was deemed nobility upon its very naming and belongs to the Accipiter family. They have long tails and short, rounded wings like a Spitfire. They can maneuver quickly through dense forest, using those long tails as a rudder. They are natures jet fighters, able to outmaneuver prey at high speed.  The largest accipiter in North America, Goshawks are known as true hawks. Adults have blood-red, piercing eyes. I have included a graph from the HMS web site of how sightings at HMS have dwindled, even since I first started seeing them there in the mid 1990’s.

I have had the opportunity to see a few in my life, most often on top of Hawk Mountain in mid-to-late November when a stiff northwestern breeze is blowing and a cold front moves through, creating that lift off the mountain crest. I recall sitting on that summit and one flying towards me like a missile, using the ridge to head south. It passed twenty feet over my head. Being so close to one is awe inspiring, it is rare to see them otherwise. The most memorable time I saw one was when I was in Worthington State Forest in New Jersey. I was in a remote area in 1998, sitting on a log and looking out across the forest. I caught some swift motion out of the corner of my eye. This huge bird was coming at me, darting through the trees at the speed of a car. Birder’s run through a catalog in their heads, size, shape, color and wing beat pattern. As it drew closer, I realized I was observing an adult Goshawk in the deep woods. It was an amazing moment. Over two decades later, that memory is with me now. 

Also pictured here is Maurice Broun’s hawk counter. The very one he used when he was the caretaker of the sanctuary between 1934 and 1966. Clicks on this little device saved the Bald Eagle, the Peregrine Falcon and several other species that were being killed off by DDT. Once a year, the staff of Hawk Mountain bring it up to North Lookout in honor of his immense contributions to our understanding of raptor migration. I happened to be there on September 16^th 2016 when it made its annual pilgrimage to this celebrated ridge, a place he loved so much. I was able to take this photo as the sun rose over that rocky crag. Thank you, sir. May you rest in peace.  

I am grateful that in 1951, the Pennsylvania Game Commission terminated the $5 bounty on Northern Goshawks. They are now on on the Pennsylvania Endangered Species. I am happy it is getting these protections. I dread that such protection is necessary. I don’t even want to think of a world without “the GOS” as it is affectionally known. Nature is vital for our physical and mental health. We share an eco-system with all of our fellow creatures and what happens to one species affects all living beings. We are all interconnected, and impact on any one species reverberates across the system. We are also at the top of a food chain, or perhaps more aptly perched on top of a house of cards.

It has been more than a few years since I have seen a GOS. But they still exist in the deep boreal northern woods, one I rarely get to experience, but I also feel connected to in many ways. Our connection to nature spans the mental, physical, and spiritual dimensions in my opinion. Is the Northern Goshawk worth saving? The “noble hawk,” if it is not, what is?

I am grateful for the opportunity to have had occasional glimpses of such an awesome creature out in the field. I want others to have such experiences for many generations to come. I hope that this additional protection status here in Pennsylvania will result in conservation strategies to save it. I am grateful to share a planet with Northern Goshawks. I am grateful to people who devote their energies to conserving our world. I am grateful that I could see this thing of wonder and fully experience it, even for just one moment in time.

What are you grateful for today?