Indomitable Hellcat

I love that description: Indomitable Hellcat. On a gorgeous fall day in southeast Pennsylvania I visited Hawk Mountain Sanctuary and learned about the founder, Rosalie Barrow Edge (1877 -1962) a New York socialite, suffragist, and amateur birdwatcher who in 1929 established the Emergency Conservation Committee to expose the conservation establishment’s ineffectiveness, and strongly advocate for species preservation. In 1934 Edge also founded the world’s first preserve for birds of prey. During the Great Depression, Edge was considered the United States’ most militant conservationist (Hawk of Mercy). In 1948, a profile of her in The New Yorker described her as “the only honest, unselfish, indomitable hellcat in the history of conservation” (New Yorker, April 17, 1948). I like to believe there have been some more Conservational Hellcats since that publication.

The sanctuary was very popular that fine Thursday, and I joined many hikers young and old, to watch the great raptor migration. I saw one Sharp Shinned hawk and several Turkey Vultures, a mere sample of what was recorded that day. (See Chart below)