Hawk Weekend Festival - A Success!

Our annual Hawk Weekend Festival held this past weekend was a great success! Thanks to our volunteers, staff, board, speakers, field trip leaders, auction/raffle donors, and crew at Spirit Mountain Grand Avenue Chalet for a job well done. We had approximately 100 in attendance each evening for both our Friday and Saturday programs. On Friday night, we held our Hawk Ridge Annual Member Meeting and honored Julie O'Connor with the Hawk Ridge Lifetime Achievement Award for her 10 years of dedication and heartfelt service with Hawk Ridge.



Executive Director, Janelle Long (left), presenting the
2013 Hawk Ridge Lifetime Achievement Award to Julie O'Connor (right)

Keith Bildstein gave an enlightening talk that left everyone with a new and interesting impression of vultures and migration.



Hawk Weekend Festival Friday night speaker -
Dr. Keith Bildstein of Hawk Mountain Sanctuary

On Saturday night, we held our Hawk Ridge fundraiser with both a fun new raffle and great assortment of auction items. Norman Smith of Massachusetts Audubon presented an entertaining talk on owls that was engaging and educational.

 

Norman Smith (left) holding first Northern Goshawk
banded for fall 2013 season with
Hawk Ridge Banding Director, Frank Nicoletti (right) 

 

Field trips were led to local birding hotspots and workshops were held at Hawk Ridge Nature Reserve on advanced hawkwatching and songbird banding. 
 



Board Member, David Alexander, teaching a group of students

from Lakehead University (Thunder Bay, Ontario)

about songbird banding techniques



Thankfully, I was able to get out from behind-the-scenes to spend a beautiful day at Hawk Ridge on Sunday. I left the weekend physically tired, but after much good conversation and true camaraderie, I feel even more inspired, motivated, and energized about Hawk Ridge. The potential we have is exciting. Our future is bright - just check out the rainbow that presented itself at our evening event on Friday! Thank you for the connections and believing in us.

 

 

Janelle Long
Executive Director