I mentioned earlier in the thread how birds of prey have made a comeback around these parts in the last 10+ years, regularly seeing them on light standards and highway signs and occasionally in the backyard. Well yesterday on the road was incredible. It was very Hitchcockian.
From 403 & Upper Middle to 401 & 427 my wife and I counted 14 hawks. That's only 15 minutes of driving. First one on utility box, ten on branches and three on light standards. One also swooped down to attack something on the ground too. This is hugely exceptional for this part of the country.
Today in 20 minutes of driving on Dundas and then 403 heading back we saw four.
In the past 20 years the goose population has exploded to the point where you will still see them here in parking lots, nowhere near water, in the dead of winter. In better weather, they are omnipresent and shitting all over our walking trails near water.
It appears the proliferation of hawks has begun. My cousin in Malton, Mississauga says he sees them quite often perched on the trees around his neighbourhood.
After this beautiful sight of 14 hawks I was looking forward to going through my dash cam footage and becoming an internet superstar on Nat Geo's youtube page, but god damn, they show up like specks and zooming in in post edit is useless with dash cam quality. Also doesn't help that it was grey outside yet again. I think we've seen the sun like twice since the end of October.
Here's the best I could do. The one on the utility box was the closest and clearest.