Hawk Watch

This morning we went birding with the High Park Nature Centre and Hawk Watchers. We have been studying symbiotic and mutualistic relationships in the wild but today we studied how sometimes an animal will rely on an element or natural phenomenon. In this case, raptors and their important relationship with the wind was our focus. Our novice birders helped seasoned hawk watchers spot a number of different migrating species and also took part in recording their counts. Along the way, they learned how to use a Beaufort scale to measure wind and picked up some tips on the proper use of binoculars. Upon returning to school, the children have spent the afternoon in the classroom in small huddles following up on what they learned today and feeling there was still more to learn, asked for materials to take home. Here is the story in their own words (using their Nature Names of course):

Jay:  “I saw two peregrine falcons with my own eyes but three were sighted in total.”

Vine: “I liked the red tailed hawk that was migrating with the turkey vultures. The other red tails we saw were residents of High Park so we didn’t count them”.

Apple: “This morning I liked best the bald eagle and the turkey vulture and the red tailed hawk and…playing the hawk game.”

Ladybug’s tips on using binoculars: “You start with them wide apart then you put them over your eyes and slowly close them until you see only one white circle. Then you use the dial to focus on what you are looking at.”

Fox: “I saw a bald eagle. I got to hold one of those once”.

As we were leaving, the Head Hawk Watcher told us that they had been out there all morning and had only seen five hawks. In the short hour we were there, the children counted 121 of five different species including three peregrine falcons and one bald eagle. He told us we could come back anytime to Hawk Hill to charm the birds because he figured these kids were good luck.