opening

From the top of Mt. Philo looking south.

I was in Shelburne for most of the weekend. I had some free time on Saturday afternoon, and decided to head to Mt. Philo, about 5 miles away. I had heard that during the fall there is a migration of raptors, and that the top of Mt. Philo is a great place to view them. I vaguely remembered that the raptors like to move on sunny days with the wind out of the north. That's the way it was on Saturday.

I drove to the top of the mountain. I found some openings in the trees facing to the south, and was able to view a few hawks circling the mountain from there. It seemed, however, that the birds would be looking for uplift from the northerly breeze, and that most of the activity would be on the north facing slope. I looked around, but really couldn't find any open views through the trees to the north.
I drove out of the park, and, on a whim, pulled off the road to see if there was any activity on the north side of the mountain. Sure enough, there were about a dozen big birds careening through the breezes. The aerial acrobatics were amazing. Some of the birds were mostly white, thinking they might be osprey.

I drove home on Sunday. I stopped along the same place as on Saturday to see if there was any activity. Didn't see a single bird. However as I drove home I did see a few hawks gliding around  similar kinds of mountainsides. I've lived in the area for over thirty years and never really noticed that kind of thing before.

Heraclitus said, "Nature loves to hide." That's the way it is for me. Natural phenomena can remain hidden, elusive, even when I'm looking hard. However, once something is observed for the first time, it seems to be everywhere. A door into the workings of the natural world is opened forever. Such openings can be very gratifying.

First frost on Saturday night.