Ah, but I'm getting ahead of myself.
Some weeks ago I was told that Beamer Conservation Area in Grimsby was basically the spring equivalent of Hawk Cliff in fall, where migrating hawks are sort of funneled over/around the lake in great numbers. Obviously, this was of interest to me, so I and my trusty traveling companion watched the weather and selected this past Sunday as a good day to go out and enjoy the spring sunshine, and perhaps see some hawks in the process.
We stopped at Windermere Basin near the Burlington Skyway on the way, since I had heard tell of waterbirds concentrating there recently, and since it really was on the way. Sadly, it was mostly still iced over, and the few groups of birds that were present were practically out of binocular range. I could have gone and gotten the scope from the car, I suppose, but we were being stared at by a bunch of fishermen (yes, fishermen, on the industrial section of the Hamilton waterfront at the end of March, I don't get it either) and I didn't feel like becoming even more of a spectacle. Besides, it was supposed to be a short stop, not a prolonged exercise in trying to figure out gulls.
In retrospect, I probably should have put in a little more effort. Looking at my (admittedly terrible) photos after the fact, I identified 10+ Ruddy Ducks, a Snow Goose, Bufflehead, American Coot, scaups, a Northern Shoveler, and three (possibly four) different gulls that I can't really identify except to know that they look different from each other (most are likely Ring-billed, so that makes the huge ones Great Black-backed? Plus one that looked like it had a black head, also likely some Herring in there somewhere).
Believe it or not, this is one of the better pics.
Undeterred, we packed ourselves back into the car and headed on to Grimsby. After a quick stop at the conveniently-located service centre right at the appropriate exit, we pulled into Beamer, strapped on our binoculars and our rubber boots, and headed in to see some hawks.
I think we might have seen two Red-tailed. Oh, and the same four Turkey Vultures that kept circling around the viewing platform area (I'm convinced it was the same four, taunting us). The official hawkwatchers mentioned a Peregrine Falcon that, of course, waited until we had left on a short walk out to the lookout before it deigned to show up, so we missed that one.
The explanation that was offered is that despite the gloriously sunny morning we'd experienced, across the lake the day had started out cloudy. So the hawks had basically all woken up and said "nope!" and stayed put for the day, leaving us watching empty skies.
It was still a nice day for a drive, though, so I don't regret going. If nothing else, it gave me opportunity for my first Timmy's ice capp of the year. Mmm.
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