Gone to the birds
Yesterday was what has become an annual event for two friends and me----to witness the fall migration. Our past observation post has been at Bake Oven Knob on the Appalachian Trail, atop the Blue Mountain, about 30 miles north of us. But alas, at least for me, the trail is no longer safe---at least not in that section:
The view:
That view does not do it justice. It is about a 600' very fast drop and to the view in that photo it is pushing 1000' drop. The topography lends itself to a superb viewing spot. The migrating birds ride the thermal currents which flow up the side of the mountain. That tends to bring the largest birds (Bald Eagles and Osprey) very close to both the edge and the peak of the mountain. It is common to look down on the travelers and feel as though you could reach out and touch some. 
With those memories well in place we made a change. We opted to go to Cape May NJ and watch the migration from the rigors of a wooden viewing platform---with bench seats 
It was a much different experience. At the Knob there will be a handful of mostly serious birders---not so with this location. MANY more people, many of whom were lacking in any knowledge of what was going on. That is not all bad---it affords an opportunity to share with others and try to direct them in their efforts---beginning with simply seeing the "actors".
Yesterday was a very good day---despite the blue bird sky, which is not your friend when trying to see the main players---eagles and hawks. Despite all the people, they were both interested in what was in front of us and respectful of others. There were a few "bird nerds" that seem to frequent such places. There were two such fellows very close to my chosen perch. They were both decked out in all the latest fashionable birding gear---one even had special gloves 
They both had very expensive binoculars and spotting scopes atop tripods. The funny thing was that I seldom saw them seeing anything in the sky 
At the knob it is common to call out the first sighting of an "incoming" with north being 12 o'clock and east 3. At times, you might add an elevation to it with 12 straight above.
I choose not to encumber my viewing mates with such information yesterday---but as the day wore on I did not hear anyone giving out such help.
We saw a lot of eagles and osprey yesterday but I could not say how many. At the knob they are clearly in migration---with a purpose in mind. They are fairly far from any viable food source since heavily wooded mountains don't stand out as good options and the next river is about 60 miles ahead. The birds yesterday had no such urgency in their mission. They are in a cornucopia of options for food and their thermals are far less defined---the result is that I know many of them were circling as they leisurely flew along.
One thing that we did not see at all yesterday and is common at the knob was "kettles" of hawks.
They very often circle as they move south. The ones in this photo are broad wings who commonly do this but they are far from the only ones. They are very interesting to watch.
I still get a thrill at seeing these magnificent raptors because when I was a kid---there just weren't any. They are here today in testimony to the activists that saved them
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity, an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty” ---Sir Winston Churchill
"Political extremism involves two prime ingredients: an excessively simple diagnosis of the world's ills, and a conviction that there are identifiable villains back of it all." ---John W. Gardner
“You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending.” ---C. S. Lewis
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