Day 144: May 23rd – An Injured Broad-wing

Rainy (again!), mild 72 degrees, and calm

Bashakill swamp

       The migration of the warblers is nearing its end and the chances of another fallout of large numbers of the beauties grow smaller with every passing day.  We returned to the Bashakill for one more shot at the migrants and had a few nice sightings of the late arrivals.  We joined friends from Cape May Audubon who had made the trip north to spend a few days here in the Hudson Valley, birding a few of our very special sites. 

Scarlet tanager

       A fine Canada warbler gave us nice looks along one of the waterside trails and the Redstarts were still fairly abundant.  Other birds such as the Scarlet tanager will be around for much of the summer, but today’s individual was quite out in the open, and we all seized the opportunity to get great views and some better than expected shots given the overcast skies.

       The “happening” of the day, however, was a report of an injured hawk brought to us by an alert cyclist who had seen the raptor lying along the roadside.  We were led to the site of the ailing bird, and one of our number, Don Frieday of the Brigantine NWR in New Jersey, skillfully retrieved it to see if he could ascertain the extent of its injuries if any.

     Don found that one of its wings seemed to be compromised and noted that the bird seemed to be malnourished.  We used the “smart-phones” of several members to eventually locate the closest Raptor Center that might be able to help the hawk. 

       Eventually, a rehab unit in Orange County was found, contacted and plans were made for one of our number to drive the bird north to drop it off and hopefully help save the bird’s life.  We’ll probably never know the outcome of the story, but just being aware of the fact that everyone made an effort to help this stately raptor made us feel better about the bird’s chances.  We can only hope for the best.