Hawk Cliff

September wouldn't be complete without a visit from my father and an excursion to Hawk Cliff on the north shore of Lake Erie.  Each autumn, hundreds of thousands of birds fly past this area on their way south.  Earlier in the week some 30,000 birds, mostly Broadwing Hawks, flew by.  Today's winds out of the south blew the birds on a more northerly track.  As a result there were probably more people on the ground than birds in the air.  Fortunately for us there are licensed banders nearby.  Part of their mandate is education.  Today they brought a few birds to us to teach us more about them.  In concert with the bird migration, butterflies also fly south.  I couldn't resist shooting a couple.  A couple of Kestrels flew by but were so high and fast my results were terrible.  Here are a few shots of American Kestrel and a Sharp Shinned Hawk that the banders trapped, banded and released this morning.