September 2019 Research and Education Summaries and October Events

Dear Friends of Hawk Ridge,

October is here and so are the owls! We had an adorable visitor this morning at Hawk Ridge (Northern Saw-whet Owl in photo) and hope to share a few with you during our Saturday Evening Owl Programs and owl workshop! REMINDER - this is your last chance to get tickets to attend the Take Flight with Hawk Ridge Gala being held next Friday, October 11th. Limited tickets left and MUST be purchased by end of the day on Sunday, October 6th.  CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE TODAY!

We have a wonderful guest speaker joining us for our gala- Scott Weidensaul, ornithologist & author, and we'll also be honoring 2 very special Hawk Ridge volunteers, Jeanne Filiatrault-Laine & Gail Marsman (as pictured), so you won't want to miss this special evening!

P.S. Be sure to check out all of our September highlights in the summaries below and remember you can view our raptor count HERE for totals & daily summaries and watch the count in action LIVE HERE or via hawkridge.org!

SEPTEMBER MIGRATION SUMMARIES

Below you'll find the September summary reports and highlights from our bird migration count staff, bird banding research staff, and education staff. We had a great September and look forward to sharing more with you through October!

September 2019 Fall Bird Migration Summary

We wanted to do something different this month. Our HRBO members and social media follows come from all corners of the world and to honor that diversity we wanted to do this month's review in Spanish, as it is Hispanic Heritage Month after all!
We are fortunate to have Melisa Rodriguez with us this year, as one of our count trainees. Melisa hails from St. Paul, MN and is an amazing part of our team. Each trainee takes on a special project and Melisa chose to work on helping translate some of our electronic information via web/social media into Spanish. What an awesome idea!! So, the September bird migration count report is posted in both Spanish & English below:

Repaso de Septiembre:

Queríamos hacer algo diferente este mes.

Nuestros miembros de HRBO y seguidores en las redes sociales vienen de todas partes del mundo y para honrar esa diversidad queríamos hacer el repaso de este mes en español. También nos da la oportunidad de celebrar Hispanic Heritage Month, que es un mes en los estados unidos para reconocer las contribuciones de los hispanos y latinos. 

Somos muy afortunados de tener a Melisa Rodriguez con nosotros este año como contadora de las aves migratorias. Melisa viene de St. Paul, MN y es una gran adición a nuestro grupo.   

Cada interno se encarga de un proyecto cada otoño y Melisa decidió traducir nuestro sitio web en español. ¡Qué idea tan increíble!

Septiembre siempre es un mes inconstante junto al lago. Hay días hermosos con una gran migración mezclado con días de niebla, viento y lluvia que no permite buena visibilidad. Así es el clima cuando las estaciones cambian. 

Sin embargo, a pesar de encontrarnos con tres semanas de clima terrible, finalmente la última semana produjo lo que esperábamos. ¡Y por supuesto todo comenzo el dia despues del festival de HRBO! 

Tuvimos numerosos días de gran migración de pájaros y rapaces que cautivaron a las multitudes y los contadores encantados cuando comenzamos a mirar que los números mensuales parecen respetables. 

Con muchos días de cielos claros, el contar aves fue un desafío considerable. Con nuevos contadores este año, que no están familiarizados con el volumen de aves y los desafíos que conlleva el territorio en HRBO, uno solo puede admirar a todos con sus nervios, tranquilidad y profesionalismo como un equipo. ¡Buen trabajo!

El dicho en inglés de “el elefante en la habitación” estaba en nuestros mentes cuando ya era el 19 de septiembre y todavía no se habían visto grandes cantidades de aguilillas ala-anchas. Con condiciones perfectas indicará que fuera un gran día.

¡Al mediodía, los contadores se miraban y pensaban lo mismo, una derrota! Especialmente cuando otros lugares, vigilando rapaces habían sido bendecidos con días consecutivos de 35,000-40,000 individuos de aguilillas ala-anchas. Sin embargo, esa tarde no decepcionó. Aunque no fue un récord, una muestra de 5,000 fue bienvenida.

Hay que recordar que parece que las aguilillas ala-anchas que vimos provienen de las provincias oeste de Canadá, por lo que no hemos perdido. Al final del mes, contamos un poco menos de 23,000. 

Hasta el momento, tuvimos 5 días con más de 1,000 gavilanes pecho-rufos y con un total de 12,000. Además, hay un constante migración de águilas calvas con casi 3,000 y todavía nos falta dos meses para la temporada. ¿Será otro año récord?

El 19 también fue un día especial para los halcones, de hecho 257: 206 cernícalos, 26 esmerejones y un gran de 25 peregrinos. Las libélulas también estaban migrando en grandes cantidades que probablemente atribuyó a la buena presentación de halcones este dia. 

Para pájaros, el 24 se destaca porque tuvimos una increíble cantidad de chipes que volaron después del amanecer a la orilla del lago Superior. Con más de 11,000 por hora estimadas y un total de 13,470 contados ese día.

Hasta ahora, hemos tenido 23,000 azulejos o chara cara blancas, más de 700 grullas grises que es notable, y más de 500 pelícanos blancos americanos. Los carpinteros cabezas rojas son un pajaro de interés porque son raros en el norte y vimos 9. 

Ya que avanzamos para octubre, hemos registrado 140 especies y un poco menos de 150,000 aves individuales. 

Como estamos entrando en Octubre es el mes para las aves rapaces grandes, ya que la mayoría de los migrantes neotrópicos están en camino para climas más calientes. ¡Asegúrate de visitarnos y disfrutar de la increíble migración en los próximos días!

SEPTEMBER MIGRATION COUNT SUMMARY

September is always a fickle month by the lake. Beautiful balmy days of great migration punctuated by stubborn stretches of fog, wind and rain. Such is the weather when the seasons change.

Nevertheless, despite running into a third week of terrible weather, the last week finally produce what we had hoped for, and of course it all started the day after the HRBO festival!

Numerous big days of songbird and hawk migration wowed good crowds and delighted counters as we started to make the monthly numbers look respectable.

The many days of clear skies makes counting a considerable challenge. With new counters this year not familiar with the volume and the challenges that go with the territory at HRBO one can only admire all of their nerve, calmness and professional teamwork exhibited. Great job!
The elephant in the room this month reared it’s ugly head on the 19th. Perfect conditions suggested we should be due a big Broad-winged Hawk day.

By noon, the counters were all looking at each other all thinking the same thing. We were going to get skunked. Hawk-watches to the east had being blessed with consecutive days of 35,000-40,000 individuals. However, that afternoon did not disappoint. Although it was no recorded a decent showing of 5,000 was warmly welcomed.
One must remember, it seems the ‘broadies’ we see likely come from the west up in the Canadian provinces, so we had not missed them. By the ended of the month we are just under 23,000.

5 days of 1,000+ Sharp-shinned Hawks have pushed their numbers skyward of 12,000 so far. Also, a steady trickle of Bald Eagles has us standing at almost 3,000 with 2 months of the season left. Will it be another record-breaking year?

The 19th was also a special day for falcons, 257 in fact, 206 Kestrels, 26 Merlin and a whopping 25 Peregrines. Dragonflies were migrating in vast numbers which likely attributed to the good showing that day of falcons.
On the songbird front, the 24th stands out as Ian incredible number of warblers flew just after dawn, with over 11,000 per hour estimated streaming along shoreline. Total of 13,470 counted that day.
Blue Jays stand currently at 23,000, over 700 Sandhill Cranes is noteworthy and over 500 American White Pelicans so far. 9 Red-headed Woodpeckers in September is also a note of interest. These are a very scarce birds in the northland.
As we head into October 140 species have been recorded and just under 150,000 individual birds. October is the month for the large birds as the vast majority of neo-tropic migrants are well on their way to warmer climes. Make sure to come and visit and enjoy the amazing migration in the coming days!!
Sincerely,
John Richardson and Fall Migration Count team

September 2019 Fall Raptor Banding Summary

 

The month of September was a mix bag, with northeast winds during the first half and high flights, but  the second half with north west winds were much more conductive to catching hawks. We had several days where we banded 100+ and several others in the 90’s which kept our interns and volunteer banders busy. 

We had several interesting birds including a a hatch-year male Sharp-shinned Hawk with dark olive eyes which also was leucistic with a patch of white on the head, white under belly and some lack of barring on some of the flight feathers. It streaking was abnormal and very thickly blotchy. We had several in season recoveries likely from station up the shore, but two of note was a Sharp-shinned banded at Whitefish Point in Michigan on May 11, 2107, born in 2016 and a return of a Cooper’s banded as second-year on September 13, 2018 at Hawk Ridge, making it a third year. Oddly we did not catch any Bald Eagles in either August or September which is unusual and only captured and banded one Peregrine Falcon, a hatch-year female.

 

Northern Harrier- 40   (45)

Sharp-shinned Hawk- 1294   (1383)

Cooper’s Hawk- 14   (20)

Northern Goshawk- 4   (7)

Broad-winged Hawk- 9   (11)

Red-tailed Hawk- 8   (18)

American Kestrel- 18

Merlin- 42  (59)

Peregrine Falcon- 1  (1)

 

Total- 1430 (1568)

(#) Denotes season total

Owl season began with a foggy night on September 15.  Since then, we've banded 150 Northern Saw-whet Owls (including 6 recaptured from other banding sites and one that had previously been banded at Hawk Ridge) and 8 Long-eared Owls.  An additional highlight was the Whip-poor-will that was caught during the "Science and Wonder of Migration" Workshop on September 22.

-Frank Nicoletti and Raptor Banding Team

September 2019 Fall Passerine Banding Summary

There has been a lot of activity going on in the Passerine (Songbird) banding world. We completed another successful season of MAPS (Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship) through the summer and after completing the MAPS season August 2^nd, we commenced migration banding on August 3^rd. We don’t wait around!

As of Oct. 2, we have banded 1194 songbirds representing 62 species of birds. It has been an interesting season for catching flycatchers- we caught the first Olive-sided Flycatcher for the banding station on 8/25, have also captured a Great Crested Flycatcher which is an uncommon one for us, as well as Eastern Wood-Pewee, and Eastern Phoebe- all fairly atypical of normal captures. Altogether we have had 7 species of Flycatchers this fall- far more species than our usual season.

It has been a good year for Gray-cheeked Thrushes- we have had 4, and most years are lucky to catch one. A Black-billed Cuckoo was caught on 8/25- another occasional bird for the banding station. We also banded the first ever Eastern Whip-poor-will on 9/23- it was captured in an early owl net run- and was a delight for all that were able to see it!

On the warbler end of things, we have had 22 species, with American Redstarts, our most frequently caught bird at 215 birds caught so far. Ordinarily Nashville Warblers are nearly as numerous- but this year has apparently been a tougher year for them with their number falling to only 98 caught. Magnolia Warblers have apparently had a good year as we seen to have caught far more than usual this season.

Our late season birds have begun to arrive including Ruby-crowned and Golden-crowned Kinglets, and Brown Creepers represented. The first Winter Wren of the season was caught on 10/1. Late Warblers like Western Palm, Yellow-rumped and Orange-crowned Warblers have also begun to turn up. The first Hermit Thrush was captured on 9/26.  Late season sparrows like White-crowned, and American Tree Sparrows have not yet been captured, but are anticipated soon.

-Margie Menzies and Passerine Banding Team

September 2019 Fall Education Summary

A busy fall education season is well underway, it’s hard to believe that we are already in October, it all flies by so fast! We started with a few late summer education groups, and then moved on into the fall overlook programming. Public programming began Sept. 1 and is happening every weekend, check the Calendar on the Hawk Ridge Website for specifics on which programs are offered during the weekend. There are also interactive activities for kids (and adults!) of all ages exploring the wonder of birds and the fun of fall migration.

School programming has been a full slate of students aged PreK- through College. The early portion of the education program season has had a number of College groups involved in Hawk Ridge programming- 7 different Higher Education groups have scheduled programming this fall! In addition to the great representation from the College level, we have had a rich variety of elementary, middle and high school, and home school groups coming out to learn about the fall migration and the wonder of birds.

Adults have not been left out of fall programming participation either! A number of organizations have participated in programming, and provided volunteer service at Hawk Ridge hauling gravel, and controlling invasives. We also had a great group of adult learners for the Science and Wonder of Fall Migration Workshop.

So know that opportunities to take part in educational programming abound through Sept. and Oct. as well as through the rest of the year. Let us know if you are interested in a program- and we will find a way if possible to fit you in a busy education schedule!

-Margie Menzies and the Education Team

UPCOMING EVENTS

Take Flight with Hawk Ridge Gala - Fri. October 11th, 2019

Please join us for an inspirational & important evening in celebration and support for Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory at the Radisson Hotel ballroom in downtown Duluth. Enjoy a delicious dinner, cash bar, live education birds, nature & artwork fundraiser, book signing, Lifetime Achievement Award (2019 recipients: Hawk Ridge Volunteers - Gail Marsman & Jeanne Filiatrault-Laine), and guest speaker.

We’ll share highlights from the spring & fall bird migration, how your support makes a difference, and end the evening with a fantastic program "Owls: Souls of the Night" by Scott Weidensaul, ornithologist and author. Scott is well known for his over 2 dozen books, including Living on the Wind: Across the Hemisphere with Migratory Birds, and owl migration research through Project SNOWstorm and Project Owlnet (www.scottweidensaul.com).

Be sure to PURCHASE YOUR TICKETS TODAY!
Tickets are limited! Registration will close Mon. morning Oct. 7th.

COST: $65/members, $75/general or $500 Table of 8!

Amazing Owls 2-day Workshop (Oct. 10 & 11)

NEW Fall OWL 2-day Workshop!

Amazing Owls: Ecology, Mysteries, and Research.

Thursday, October 10th & Friday, October 11th.

Limited to 12, so be sure to register today!

Did you know there are 19 species of owls in the US? What are the stories of the 12 species found in Minnesota? Where do they live, when and where are you likely to see them, what do they sound like? What does it mean to be zygodactyl, can they really turn their heads all the way around, and what other tricks (adaptations) do they have in the toolbox? What is the status of these owl species in Minnesota? We will explore all these topics and more during this workshop. Be prepared- some of this workshop will be nocturnal and some during the day! Bring your spirit of adventure, lots of layers to be outside, and plenty of curiosity to learn more about the fascinating world of the owls.

Click on link for more info on how to register. 

Public Programs

Check out our calendar HERE for our program schedule! Daily Sat. & Sun. programs, special events, workshops, evening programs, and more!

NEW Private Guided Morning Bird Walks at Park Point!

Join one of our expert birders and Count Interpreter staff, Clinton Nienhaus or Alex Sundvall, for a private guided morning bird walk at Park Point. A great diversity of shorebirds, warblers, waterfowl, and other exciting bird species are frequently observed at the birding hotspot.Click HERE for more info on how to register!

Saturday Evening October Owl Programs: 

10/5, 10/12, 10/19, 10/26; 8pm at Hawk Ridge Nature Reserve ($5/person - limited tickets for sale at Hawk Ridge merchandise trailer during open hours and online by clicking HERE).

Private Owl Programs

NOW through October 31. Click on link for more info on how to register.

Limited to 8 (min. of 4)

  Hawks on High Book Signings

Phil Fitzpatrick will be at Hawk Ridge Nature Reserve for book signings of his newly released poetry book - Hawks on High:Everyday Miracles in a Hawk Ridge Season at Hawk Ridge Nature Reserve on Sat. 10/12, and Sun. 10/13. This book highlights Hawk Ridge with delightful poems about the birds, migration, people, and history with beautiful artwork by local artist, Penny Perry. Merchandise including shirts with Penny Perry's artwork featuring the Common Nighthawk & American Kestrel and coffee mugs with the cover artwork are for sale in the Hawk Ridge merchandise trailer. You can also follow along on the Hawks on High Facebook page!

VISIT US AT HAWK RIDGE NATURE RESERVE 9AM-4PM DAILY SEPT 1 - OCT. 31ST!

Plan Your Visit TODAY!

Visitors Guide

Directions

Lodging

Meet Our Staff!

Flying Wild Workshop

Sat. Nov. 9th, 2019

Audubon Minnesota, Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory, and Duluth Audubon Society are pleased to offer this unique 2-part workshop for educators! Flying WILD: A program for ALL educators interested in using activities about birds, migration, and conservation to encourage learning in science and many other subjects. Limited to 25 participants. For more information, please click HERE.

OTHER HAWK RIDGE NEWS

Hawk Weekend Festival 2019

The annual Hawk Weekend Festival was held September 20-22, 2019 at Hawk Ridge Nature Reserve, as well as several other locations around Duluth for field trips and programs. Over 150 registered for the event, but that doesn't account for the hundreds of additional people that joined us to celebrate the migration over the weekend. Dr. John Fitzpatrick delivered a powerful and passionate evening program on "How Birds (Including Hawks!) Can Save The World." Thank you to the field trip leaders, staff, volunteers, and all that joined us and for a delightful weekend packed with both people and birds. We hope to see you at one of our other events this fall season!

Hawks on High Book Launch

Phil Fitzpatrick officially released his poetry book Hawks on High:Everyday Miracles in a Hawk Ridge Season on September 9 at Zeitgeist in the Atrium (222 E Superior St, Duluth). It was a wonderful event attended by many. Artist Penny Perry opened her exhibit of the drawings from the book, which will continue to be on display. We enjoyed listening to the beautiful poetry readings by Phil and ending the evening with music by the band Woodblind. The book is on sale at Hawk Ridge Nature Reserve and Zenith Book Store. Phil will be holding several book signing events, which can be found in the event info above or at hawkridge.org.

August Migration Reports 2019 - Click HERE to read our August Bird Migration Count and Banding Summaries

West Skyline Spring Count 2019 - Join one of our Please click HERE to read the West Skyline Spring Count Final Report and monthly summaries. It was an exciting season and we look forward to Spring of 2020!

BECOME A MEMBER TODAY!

If you're already a member of Hawk Ridge, we sincerely appreciate your support! THANK YOU! If you aren't, we hope you've enjoyed your experience with us and at Hawk Ridge and ask that you renew or join as a Hawk Ridge member today! Our memberships and donations help drive our bird conservation research and education programs. You can check out our exciting membership benefits and join or renew online HERE!

2018 ANNUAL HIGHLIGHTS - Please click HERE to read and see how your support is helping us make a difference! Thank you!

RAISE $ FOR HAWK RIDGE BY WITH YOUR ONLINE SHOPPING!

Two simple ways to raise money for Hawk Ridge are by using 1) GoodShop and 2) Amazon Smile for your online shopping in support of Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory to receive proceeds.

Thanks again for your support and hope to see you at the Ridge!