Hawk Eye

I have always had a thing for Hawks. In fact, Josh has nicknamed me 'Hawk Eye' because I seem to spot them everywhere. We now live just below Hawk Ridge and have a beautiful view of it from our back yard. The bird migration is going on right now, so me & Hawk Eye Jr. headed up there today to check it out. We had so much fun, that when Bren got home from school we went back & did something pretty special!

Armed with his "noculars", Nash took his Hawk spotting very seriously!
"Momma, I see one! No, I see two! I see lot's of Hawk's"!

This is what we saw. This was a Merlin Hawk. 1 of only 3 spotted today. They catch the birds and band them, then release them. For a fee, you can adopt one & release it. They give you the band # and notify you if they see the Hawk again. It's pretty cool.

Bren adopted the Merlin.


He was pretty excited. I was jealous. He's holding a real, live, wild HAWK!



***Random Hawk fact: Raptors are reluctant to cross large bodies of water, so when they migrate south & get to Lake Superior, the birds naturally veer southwest along the Lakeshore, making Hawk Ridge the ideal Hawk watching spot in NORTH AMERICA!***

Fly south, lil bird!


Now it was Hawk Eye Jr.'s turn. Nash's Hawk, who he shockingly named "BUSTIN BEAVERS", was a Sharp-shinned Hawk.


Nash was so excited and brave! Bustin Beavers wouldn't take his eyes off Nash, which did make Momma a teeny bit nervous.



Everyone counted down.....three...two....one.....and he was supposed to let go. Instead he snuck a few more moments with the bird................then when HE was ready..................

He let Bustin Beavers spread his wings!

The tiny black dot is Biebs himself, flying away.

Be sure to go check out Hawk Ridge. Drive in until you see the little station they have set up. Peak viewing times are 10am-2pm & the number of raptors will peak around th 15 of September (give or take a day or two). Click this link to learn more about the migration (it's pretty fascinating). http://www.hawkridge.org/visit/migration.html