What you see in the image below is a kettle of more than a dozen hawks, most of them Broad-winged hawks, spiraling in the thermals over my yard this past week. What an unexpected surprise. Naturally, I was so taken with what I was seeing, that they starting disappearing behind the trees before I even thought to lift my camera!
Fall migration is such an exciting time of year. Birds are on the move, in route to their wintering grounds, and trees are busy with migrants, plucking berries or dining on the insects that gather around them.
And all of that activity is exactly the focus of Cumberland Gap National Historical Park's Raptor Rhapsody Festival this weekend. It's all about nature and birds--bird walks, bird watching, bird presentations, hawk migration watching at Pinnacle Overlook, as well as, stories about the pioneer history of these beautiful Appalachian mountain ridges.
While you're visiting the festival activities, come by and say, hello. I'll be exhibiting and demonstrating art, and giving presentations about the fun I have with Birds and Art.
For information about the park and the Raptor Rhapsody festival visit Cumberland Mountain National Historical Park
Autumn is such a wonderful time of year. We have a huge concentration of Turkey Vultures here. I would love to look up and see a kettle of broad winged hawks instead. Good luck with your exhibition. Wish I could be there.
ReplyDeleteInteresting bog. I was commenting to my husband this morning that it sounds like Spring here. The migrating birds are nesting here again or stopping to eat and rest on their way further south.
ReplyDeleteWe are in the Tampa Bay area right on the Gulf of Mexico. Our pelicans, anhingas and cormorants are back. Some stay all year round. Some migrate further north during the summer. Our eagle sanctuary fills back up this time of year, too.