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Visiting the Hawk Lookout
at Derby Hill
Many birds of prey migrate through to the north in
the Spring, but you will not see them unless you are in the right spot. Probably
the best place in the East in the spring is at the Derby Hill Bird
Observatory about 30 miles north of Syracuse.
Why is it so good and where is it?
As hawks, eagles and vultures migrate they take
advantage of rising currents of warm air to keep them aloft and this saves
energy. These thermals, as they are called form over spots where the land has
been warmed by the sun.
Hawks migrating Northward in Ohio,
Pennsylvania, or Western
New York State
eventually come to the Great Lakes. Since thermals are
not normally formed over the water, the birds turn to the east and follow the
land along the shoreline in a north-easterly direction. Those encountering Lake
Erie eventually come to the southern shore of Lake
Ontario. As the birds from Ohio
move north-eastward they are joined by hawks coming up through Pennsylvania
and Western New York.
When the winds are from the south, all the birds
are pressed against the lake shore. It is as if there is one lane, bumper to
bumper traffic right along the shoreline. All of these birds then pass around
the eastern end of Lake Ontario
and go directly north. Just before the turning point is a ridge across their
path called Derby Hill. This is the first hill they have encountered in many
miles of flying along the lake shore plain.
To see a map of this spring hawk migration route,
go to the top of this page and click on Maps in the list on the left. Go to Map 2. You may also want to look at Map 1 which shows the driving route to the Derby
Hill Observatory.
To gain altitude to pass over the Derby Hill,
hawks frequently circle as they approach it. They are often in sight for many
minutes before they pass over Derby Hill and turn North.
An observer on the north end of Derby Hill near
the shore will see them all and some come over rather low. Indeed, it is
probably the best place in the United States
to observe the hawk migration in the Spring time. The busy period is from now
to the end of May.
A few birds pass through in February, but things
pick up in March. Other species that pass through starting now are goshawks,
red-shouldered hawks and red-tailed hawks.
On the average, about 40,000 hawks are recorded there
from March through May. In the spring of 2003, the total number tallied over
the 24 years that daily counts have been made may reached a historic 1
million.
The property is owned by the Onondaga Audubon
Society. A biologist is there every day through the Spring to tally the birds
and help visitors enjoy this special event. Anyone is welcome to visit the
observatory. When there are south winds, you will see more hawks.
In 1955, and aware of earlier ornithologists
observations and the existence of some locations for observing this flight
farther west near Rochester, Fritz Scheider, then 24 years old, and H. Van
Beurden explored the area around the eastern end of the lake of Lake Ontario
and discovered Derby Hill as an excellent place for hawk watching .
Many other birds migrate along the shore in this
area. A visitor there will often see large numbers of swallows, crows,
blackbirds, blue jays, robins, white-breasted nuthatches, black-capped
chickadees, yellow-shafted flickers and starlings. It is quite a good spot
for all sorts of birds!
Map 1 shows that the
Observatory is north of Mexico, NY on Sage Creek Rd. that turns off of 104B
about a half mile west of the intersection of routes 104B and 3. Drive north
on Sage Creek Rd. about 1
mile where it ends at the lake.
More information about Derby Hill can be obtained
from the Onondaga Audubon Society web page, visit
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