From the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority
(Niagara At Large is pleased to post this media release from the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority for your information. If you are looking for a breathtaking encounter with nature in our greater Niagara region, you can’t go wrong checking this event out.)
Grab your binoculars and a camera and join the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority and the Niagara Peninsula Hawkwatch team on Friday, April 6th for the Good Friday Open House at Beamer Memorial Conservation Area, Grimsby.
This annual event will run from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. and will feature live hawk demonstrations, talks on the hawk migration, a children’s program and nature club displays. This year we are pleased to honour and recognize the dedication of two departed members of the organization; founding president, Bruce Duncan and site founder Dave Copeland. A special dedication and bench unveiling will take place at 11:00 a.m.
The migration trends of birds of prey serve as a valuable biological indicator of ecosystem health. Now in its 38th year, many volunteers from the Niagara Peninsula Hawkwatch have been at the site since observing and monitoring the annual spring migration of these ‘globetrotters’. These include 15 species of hawks, falcons, eagles and vultures travelling from South and Central America, the Caribbean and the United States to their nesting territories in Canada.
John Stevens of the Niagara Peninsula Hawkwatch notes, “with the unusually warm weather in March the count is running ahead of last year’s total. In addition, we’ve had two Black Vultures, a rather sedentary southern species that is beginning to be seen more often in Ontario and may become our sixteenth regularly-observed raptor species.” Nearly 5,000 raptors, including thirty one bald eagles, 3 golden eagles and over 2,500 turkey vultures have been counted in the month of March. More birds of prey are expected now through mid-May, with an average of 15,000 seen annually.
Renowned as the best vantage point in the Niagara Peninsula to observe the annual spring migration, Beamer also offers visitors hiking trails and one of the most spectacular views of the Niagara Escarpment and Lake Ontario Landscape, as well as nature and wildlife habitat viewing at this Conservation Area. On most days one can see the skyline and mist from Niagara Falls and the skyline of Toronto from the overlooks on the escarpment edge.
For directions or more information visit our website at http://www.npca.ca.
(Niagara At Large invites you to share your views on this post in the comment boxes below. Remember that NAL only posts comments by individuals willing to share their real first and last names with their views.)
Niagara At Large 
I had never saw a wild vuture in my life and saw several in Chippawa in a new sub- division that was not completed yet, I was quite staggered at how huge those birds are, as big as a wild turkey, Turkeys have been around here for year, these things were definately vultures could global warming be the reason for them being here? the first possums arrived here 40 years ago I wonder if there is a connection.here.
LikeLike
Actually their are other people that can answer this question better than I can George but as long as I have lived in Grimsby they have been soaring on the thermals at Beamer’s. As I understand they have a wing span of up to 9 feet. I have seen from eagles to kinglets in the 40 creek valley. We in Grimsby are truly blessed to have nature not only so close to Town but to thrive. This Winter I counted 15 deer in one day in my yard!
LikeLike
Looking forward to Friday to visit the Hawk watch and see when they release a Hawk that had been nursed back to health and after the kids have had a good up close encounter . I found the experts from the Naturalist Clubs very aproachable and so knowledgable that the kids are just enthralled ! Kudos to the Conservation Authority and the many Volunteers who maintain the Park and the surrounding Trail System that leads up to Beamer Point.
LikeLike
I have often thought it would be wonderful if all our lovely Churches in Town could partake in the Good Friday Hawk Watch Event by ringing their bells weather in unison or at individual times. I love it on Sunday Mornings when I am hiking up the Gibson Street Trail or at the Hawk Point and hear a Church play it’s bells. I have always thought it a measure of the Towns Character by the number of Churches it has . Well Grimsby is and always was a Town Blessed!
LikeLike