The Hawk Count at Holiday Beach Conservation Area in Amherstburg is marking a significant milestone, celebrating 50 years of keeping an eye on the skies.
“Fifty years ago, there was no Hawk Tower, so we had a bunch of people who would sit in deck chairs and start watching the hawks,” said Hugh Kent, president of the Holiday Beach Migration Observatory (HBMO).
The iconic Hawk Tower was added in 1988 after being purchased from Edison for just one dollar and relocated to Holiday Beach.
Now, the Hawk Tower provides the perfect spot for tracking birds as they turn westward along the Lake Erie shoreline.
“We’re specifically interested in watching hawks coming from the east, going over our heads,” Kent said.
Hawks avoid crossing large bodies of water like Lake Erie due to the lack of thermal uplift, making Holiday Beach a key site for their migration.
Over the last 50 …