Hawk Ridge

Fox Sparrow

Today I traveled to Duluth to visit Hawk Ridge with a friend.  My friend had never been there before so it was nice to explain the situation.  I had my binoculars. The city overlooking the big lake was beautiful, as always.  The wind was blowing hard toward the lake.  Hawks had a hard time handling themselves in the strong wind.  But it worked out for us bird watchers because the hawks came over the ridge at very low altitudes - right over our heads.  I saw sharp shinned hawks and red tailed hawks and a goshawk at a close distance.  The few eagles and lone turkey vulture we saw were way up high which is how I usually see all the raptors at Hawk Ridge.  We saw fewer birds but we saw them at closer range so it all works out.  Birds are banded at Hawk Ridge.  We saw an adult male sharp shinned hawk get released.  He looked at the audience with his burning red eyes and fearsome attitude.  A fox sparrow was also banded and released.  I got a good if ungraceful look at that sparrow.  How can you look graceful when you are held upside down in someones hand and your leg extended?  We went to a class of beginning hawk identification.  I've heard all this information before but this time more of it made sense to me.  Hawks are easier to identify if you put them into groups first.  Accipiters are one group of short and rounded winged, long tailed birds.  Their flying is flap, flap, flap, glide.  These birds fly in forests so they need shorter wings.  Buteos have short tails, long and broad wings and fly with more soaring and gliding.  Red tailed hawks are buteos.  I think I know these groups a little better now.  The naturalist also gave us a quick lesson on focusing binoculars and holy cow, I can see a lot better now.  I wish I had heard this lesson before.  After our stay at Hawk Ridge, we stopped at the Cedar Creek Cafe for lunch.  I heard about this cafe in a book, "Travels With Buddha."  The book gave a very good description of the cafe's pressed tin ceiling, atmosphere, and delicious food.  I had an egg and one slice of french toast with wild rice/cranberry bread.  They gave me two kinds of syrup; maple syrup and some kind of stout syrup which I think was made out of beer.  I liked the maple better.  My friend had a ham and Gouda sandwich.  We had a good trip to Hawk Ridge today.