The bus stopped at a small house near the woods. A boy dashed out as fast as he
could, and yelled, “MOM! I’M HOME!”. “ This is me, Alexander Richard Veilleux. A regular
11year old 6th grade kid. Well, kinda regular. As long as I remember, I’ve always loved birds.
Especially Raptores. Since I live near acres of woods in Buffalo New York it’s not exactly the
hardest thing finding one.
“Yes Alex?”. This was my mom, Leanne. She also loved bird watching, but not as much
as I did. She’s a single mom, divorced 7 years back. I didn’t really notice as much as I was only
4, but whatever. He still visits once and awhile.
Then there’s my two dogs. Shelby, a Shetland Sheepdog and Holly, a Labrador. Every
day when I get home from school I get greeted by dog kisses and being jumped on. It’s just there
own way of saying they love you. I bring them sometimes out in the fields to play fetch. So
whenever I get home, they’re just waiting to see if I tell them to come outside and play fetch.
Today however, was not one of those days. Today was a bird watching day. Next to our
house it’s not just woods. There’s a lake, fields, trails and even swamps. I keep a journal of what
birds I’ve seen, and so far I have about 320 species recorded. The best thing about this place
though is the rapture migration. This is where hawks fly over the area during migration. I’ve seen
every kind of rapture before in this area except one. My favorite bird, the Golden Eagle.
* Northern Harrier
* Red Tailed Hawk
* Coopers Hawk
* Sharp Shinned Hawk
* Turkey Vulture
* Black Vulture
* Osprey
* American Kestrel
* Peregrine Falcon
* Merlin
* Northern Goshawk
* Rough Legged Hawk
* Broad Winged Hawk
* Bald Eagle
The list of raptures I’ve seen. All of them. Pictures of them. Photos of them. All but one.
The bird that has the power to take down cattle with a single dive. A bird so powerful it can
make a Grizzly Bear run. One so big, it creates a plane casting shadow. Talons so sharp, it can
crush bone. A golden feather lining so deep. Only one bird matches this. One bird. The Golden
Eagle. I grabbed my camera, zoom lenses, binoculars, notebook, identification sheet and my
supplies. I looked outside. Today was the prime migration day. This day till November I’d be
watching the skies. I jumped on my bike then peddled through the trails.
As I peddled to the woods I heard a yell. “Hey Alex! Where’re you going?”. It was Neal,
Danny and Zack, my best friends. These guys are really the only people who understand some
birding like I do. I take them on trails all the time through the woods. I showed them the animals
and birds that live there, fields, great fishing spots and even a waterfall once. These guys were
taught by me. I told them about birding in the first place.
“Just going into the woods for the rapture migration.”, “It’s happening today.”. They
drew a little closer. “ Cool. Plan on seeing any Golden Eagles?”. They knew that was my biggest
birding goal. “Hopefully I do. I got my best zoom lense with me.”. “Well then, you soon then.”
they said. I road into the woods now. I was on the biking trail. It had rocks on the paths so you
had to be careful where you ride. Luckily, I’m probably the best biker in school due to all this
practice.
I was half way there when I heard a loud pitched screech. A hawk scream. No, not a
hawk, an eagle. I peddled harder. It sounded like it was in danger. I heard that kind of scream
before on something. An identification page on Cornell Lab of ornithology. Then it hit me. That
scream was from the bird I was looking for. I went even faster. My pedometer at this point said I
was going 25 mph. Dust from the dirt trail were literally trailing behind me like a motorcycle. I
had to dodge the rocks on the road while going this fast. 26... Faster I could hear pounding in my
head.
I was at about to hit to 30mph mark when I saw what I was looking for. The scream. It
was coming from a truck. No, a van. There were tinted windows so I couldn’t see in. I peddled
even faster. 32.... I was going down a long hill. So was the van. It must of realized I was
following it, so it stepped on the accelerator and turned up another trail out of site on a sharp
turn. I’d flip if I tried. The on thing that did catch my eye was that I was gonna crash through the
high meadow grass. I jammed on the breaks, but it was to late. I was already bashing through the
grass.
“AHHHHHHHHHHHH!”, I screamed. Although it may not seem bad, these bushes are
thick. I slowed down after about going 15 yards. Then hit the breaks. Still, I fell off. It would be a
long way up. At most I got about 25mph down that hill. But never over 30. I the grabbed my
supplies, and sat down. I was there for about 30 minutes. So far a few Turkey Vultures and Red
Tailed Hawks were all I saw. Then, about 12 Broad Winged Hawks soared over. Then 2
Northern Harriers. I got pretty good shots of them. I had to be there for about an hour and a half
before I saw something that was quite good. A Peregrine Falcon. I noticed the time and packed
up to go home.
I rode up the hill with everything. Honestly though, by now, it was no stretch. It’s just a
workout for me now. Nothing to hard, or to easy. Just right. Then I remembered what happened
on my way here. I heard a Golden Eagle, or at least I think, screaming. I really was thinking about
that. Was there something to it? Was this maybe helping an injured bird? I figured maybe I could
find this on NY Audubon when I got home. So I put on an extra push in my step and rode up the
hill.
I'm gonna make this thing a bunch longer. I just want to see what you guys think of it.
could, and yelled, “MOM! I’M HOME!”. “ This is me, Alexander Richard Veilleux. A regular
11year old 6th grade kid. Well, kinda regular. As long as I remember, I’ve always loved birds.
Especially Raptores. Since I live near acres of woods in Buffalo New York it’s not exactly the
hardest thing finding one.
“Yes Alex?”. This was my mom, Leanne. She also loved bird watching, but not as much
as I did. She’s a single mom, divorced 7 years back. I didn’t really notice as much as I was only
4, but whatever. He still visits once and awhile.
Then there’s my two dogs. Shelby, a Shetland Sheepdog and Holly, a Labrador. Every
day when I get home from school I get greeted by dog kisses and being jumped on. It’s just there
own way of saying they love you. I bring them sometimes out in the fields to play fetch. So
whenever I get home, they’re just waiting to see if I tell them to come outside and play fetch.
Today however, was not one of those days. Today was a bird watching day. Next to our
house it’s not just woods. There’s a lake, fields, trails and even swamps. I keep a journal of what
birds I’ve seen, and so far I have about 320 species recorded. The best thing about this place
though is the rapture migration. This is where hawks fly over the area during migration. I’ve seen
every kind of rapture before in this area except one. My favorite bird, the Golden Eagle.
* Northern Harrier
* Red Tailed Hawk
* Coopers Hawk
* Sharp Shinned Hawk
* Turkey Vulture
* Black Vulture
* Osprey
* American Kestrel
* Peregrine Falcon
* Merlin
* Northern Goshawk
* Rough Legged Hawk
* Broad Winged Hawk
* Bald Eagle
The list of raptures I’ve seen. All of them. Pictures of them. Photos of them. All but one.
The bird that has the power to take down cattle with a single dive. A bird so powerful it can
make a Grizzly Bear run. One so big, it creates a plane casting shadow. Talons so sharp, it can
crush bone. A golden feather lining so deep. Only one bird matches this. One bird. The Golden
Eagle. I grabbed my camera, zoom lenses, binoculars, notebook, identification sheet and my
supplies. I looked outside. Today was the prime migration day. This day till November I’d be
watching the skies. I jumped on my bike then peddled through the trails.
As I peddled to the woods I heard a yell. “Hey Alex! Where’re you going?”. It was Neal,
Danny and Zack, my best friends. These guys are really the only people who understand some
birding like I do. I take them on trails all the time through the woods. I showed them the animals
and birds that live there, fields, great fishing spots and even a waterfall once. These guys were
taught by me. I told them about birding in the first place.
“Just going into the woods for the rapture migration.”, “It’s happening today.”. They
drew a little closer. “ Cool. Plan on seeing any Golden Eagles?”. They knew that was my biggest
birding goal. “Hopefully I do. I got my best zoom lense with me.”. “Well then, you soon then.”
they said. I road into the woods now. I was on the biking trail. It had rocks on the paths so you
had to be careful where you ride. Luckily, I’m probably the best biker in school due to all this
practice.
I was half way there when I heard a loud pitched screech. A hawk scream. No, not a
hawk, an eagle. I peddled harder. It sounded like it was in danger. I heard that kind of scream
before on something. An identification page on Cornell Lab of ornithology. Then it hit me. That
scream was from the bird I was looking for. I went even faster. My pedometer at this point said I
was going 25 mph. Dust from the dirt trail were literally trailing behind me like a motorcycle. I
had to dodge the rocks on the road while going this fast. 26... Faster I could hear pounding in my
head.
I was at about to hit to 30mph mark when I saw what I was looking for. The scream. It
was coming from a truck. No, a van. There were tinted windows so I couldn’t see in. I peddled
even faster. 32.... I was going down a long hill. So was the van. It must of realized I was
following it, so it stepped on the accelerator and turned up another trail out of site on a sharp
turn. I’d flip if I tried. The on thing that did catch my eye was that I was gonna crash through the
high meadow grass. I jammed on the breaks, but it was to late. I was already bashing through the
grass.
“AHHHHHHHHHHHH!”, I screamed. Although it may not seem bad, these bushes are
thick. I slowed down after about going 15 yards. Then hit the breaks. Still, I fell off. It would be a
long way up. At most I got about 25mph down that hill. But never over 30. I the grabbed my
supplies, and sat down. I was there for about 30 minutes. So far a few Turkey Vultures and Red
Tailed Hawks were all I saw. Then, about 12 Broad Winged Hawks soared over. Then 2
Northern Harriers. I got pretty good shots of them. I had to be there for about an hour and a half
before I saw something that was quite good. A Peregrine Falcon. I noticed the time and packed
up to go home.
I rode up the hill with everything. Honestly though, by now, it was no stretch. It’s just a
workout for me now. Nothing to hard, or to easy. Just right. Then I remembered what happened
on my way here. I heard a Golden Eagle, or at least I think, screaming. I really was thinking about
that. Was there something to it? Was this maybe helping an injured bird? I figured maybe I could
find this on NY Audubon when I got home. So I put on an extra push in my step and rode up the
hill.
I'm gonna make this thing a bunch longer. I just want to see what you guys think of it.
