Hawks on High: Everyday Miracles in a Hawk Ridge Season

Photo credit: Phil Fitzpatrick

First off, the name Hawk Ridge is itself evocative. Hawks, eagles and other raptors are to birds what T-Rex seems to be to the dinosaurs. (I'm talking from a kid's-eye view.) They're majestic, and inspirational.

In Duluth, Hawk Ridge is located at the top of another cool landmark, Seven Bridges Road. It's a beautiful drive up through the trees, criss-crossing Amity Creek seven times as it wends it way up to the skyline. When I first moved to Duluth I just assumed it was just a name. I did not know at that time how this Western rim of Lake Superior had become a historic highway for migrating birds of all kinds, bit especially birds of prey.

Another photo by Phil.

So it is only natural that naturalists would set up a lookout to monitor the traffic, so to speak. The migration South begins in late August and continues through November, but the peak season for bird watching is mid-to-late September during which time tens of thousands of hawks will fly by each day. This also happens to be close to the peak for the autumn colors as trees slip out of their greenery into multi-colored finery, in case you want to plan your next vacation.

I mention all these things by way of introduction to my friend Phil Fitzpatrick's Kickstarter campaign for a book project he has been working on called Hawks on High: Everyday Miracles in a Hawk Ridge Season. It's technically a hybrid art book/poetry book, featuring Phil's poems accompanied by illustration created by Penny Perry.

Phil has been spending a lot of time up on the ridge this fall. I remember Bob Dylan once saying that the power of a song or story comes from unmediated first hand observation. All too often our experiences of the world are not first hand, but rather mediated to us. There's a big difference between a TV show about lions and actually standing in the brush as a pride of lions feasts in front of you. So Phil has been up on the ridge, watching the hawks and eagles flow by. He's been spending his days absorbing the inspiration transmitted by the natural wonder of the view from Hawk Ridge, overlooking our Great Lake.

Penny Perry with one of her delicate illustrations.
Photo by Mikayla Haynes

I still remember the first time I was up on Hawk Ridge with my family when our kids were young. I learned that day about air currents and updrafts. Many of these great birds would spread their wings and glide for miles, and at certain points they would catch an updraft to drift upward as if climbing a spiral staircase. It's quite sensational to see a bald eagle catching the wind, effortlessly making its lazy leisurely way to higher heights.

I once knew a fellow from Duluth here, nicknamed Condor Man, who learned about updrafts and had taken up the hobby of hang-gliding. By means of updrafts he flew, on at least one occasion if not more, to Western North Dakota, a modern-day Icarus.

Phil Fitzpatrick. Photo by Margie Menzies.

A few more words about Phil. He doesn't wear it on his sleeve but he's a Harvard grad. And a fine poet. And a good man. And a long time Dylan fan who had been a big help on the Duluth Dylan Fest team here. When JFK was assassinated, Phil says it was The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan, Dylan's 2nd album with "Hard Rain" and "Blowin' in the Wind" that got him through that first weekend. And not many folks can say they remember seeing Bob in concert when he wasn't the headliner. Phil was there when the young kid from the Northland opened for Del Shannon in Cambridge, 1963.

Phil's got a Kickstarter Campaign going. The project he's working on will be a blessing to many I am certain. CLICK HERE to learn more about the project, but also to see a really good example of how to do a Kickstarter campaign: Hawks on High: Everyday Miracles in a Hawk Ridge Season.

I can't wait to see the finished project. Special thanks to Mike Savage and all the others who have helped Phil make this happen, including you I hope.