Dear Friends of Hawk Ridge,
We truly thank you for being a supporter of Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory. Thanks to you and the entire Hawk Ridge community, this year was filled with wonderful connections with gracious visitors, generous donors, amazing staff, and most importantly— beautiful birds! As we look to the new year, we are thrilled to celebrate our 50th Anniversary— protecting birds of prey and other migratory birds in the Western Lake Superior region through research, education, and stewardship. In honor of this anniversary and milestone, we invite you to consider a year-end gift to kick off this special year.
With your generosity and support, we will soar into our 50th year with many exciting initiatives and events, including our spring and fall bird migration counts, bird banding research, more than 100 educational programs for people of all ages, and crucial volunteer-led land stewardship across our beloved Hawk Ridge Nature Reserve. Your investment in our mission this season directly impacts everything we do, and we can’t thank you enough!
As you consider your gift, we invite you to celebrate the 2021 highlights below leading us to our 50th year. This incredible work happens each year, thanks to our amazing staff and the generosity of members and donors of Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory. Your year-end, tax deductible donation can be made online simply by clicking HERE or by mail at Hawk Ridge, P.O. Box 3006, Duluth, MN 55812. If you’d like to make a gift of stock or fund transfer, please contact Janelle Long, Executive Director at (218) 428-6209 or jlong@hawkridge.org.
From all of us at Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory, we send our warmest wishes and sincere gratitude for you this Holiday Season. Thanks to you for making our mission a reality and empowering our community to continue to soar on Hawk Ridge!
2021 HAWK RIDGE HIGHLIGHTS
RESEARCH AND PROGRAMS
BIRD MIGRATION COUNT RESEARCH
During our 2021 Spring and Fall season, we counted over 90,000 raptors of 16 different species, as well as 270,000+ other migrating birds of 185+ species. Above average numbers were counted this fall for both Bald & Golden Eagle, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Broad-winged Hawk, Rough-legged Hawk, Merlin, and Peregrine Falcon. In total, over 3.1 million raptors have been counted at Hawk Ridge since the standardized count started in fall 1972.
BIRD BANDING RESEARCH
We continue to run the largest raptor banding operation in the country with Frank Nicoletti as the Hawk Ridge Banding Director. Frank and his team banded over 3200 raptors (including 950+ owls) in fall 2021. Volunteers also continued passerine banding at Hawk Ridge, including summer MAPS (Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship) research, with the leadership of David Alexander and Margie Menzies. Highlights included a Golden Eagle Banded by trainees and multiple collaborative research projects
TRAINEESHIP PROGRAM & GRADUATE RESEARCH
Six trainees received exceptional professional field experience within our bird migration count, banding, and environmental education programs. We collaborated with four graduate students from University of MN Duluth (including 3 former trainees) on their research projects.
EDUCATION
Hawk Ridge Education All-Stars, led by Margie Menzies, Education Director, shared more than 100 educational programs, reaching nearly 2000 participants of all ages! We shared the wonder of the migration with thousands of visitors at Hawk Ridge with live bird education demos, kid’s cart, school field trips and public programs. We provided workshops, outreach events, and virtual programs. New in 2021 was a birding tour led by Margie Menzies to Panama. Join us for international tour dates in 2022 with Costa Rica in March & Panama again in the fall!
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT & GIVING BACK
ANNUAL HAWK WEEKEND Visitors and supporters enjoyed our annual Hawk Weekend festival in September. Dr. Gerald Niemi gave a wonderful presentation on boreal birds at the Great Lakes Aquarium. UMD graduate students: Emily Pavlovic, Hannah Toutonghi, & Allie Pesano impressed us all with their presentation on Raptor Banding Research at Hawk Ridge. 100 attendees enjoyed field trips and workshops. We had the privilege to honor Dr. David Alexander with the Hawk Ridge Lifetime Achievement award for 30 years of service.
LAND STEWARDSHIP
Volunteers led crucial projects and efforts throughout the year at Hawk Ridge Nature Reserve, including invasive species management, as well as managing site maintenance and improvements. More than 70 volunteers contributed 3000 hours to Hawk Ridge this year! One exciting new stewardship effort was an Eagle Scout Project with the installation of directional trail signage at Hawk Ridge. From watching eagles at Hawk Ridge at the young age of 9 to giving back with his Eagle Scout project - thank you Kyle! This project will help visitors and our entire community help better navigate the beautiful trails throughout the nature reserve!
We truly appreciate your support!
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P.S. Be sure to SAVE THE DATE for our 50th Anniversary Event on 9/22/22! Hawk Ridge is celebrating 50 years of raptor research and education! We will kick off the event Thursday evening at the beautiful Greysolon Ballroom for a grand celebration of the past, present, and future of Hawk Ridge! Our annual Hawk Weekend Festival will follow that weekend (Fri. 9/23 - Mon. 9/26) with a great line up of speakers, field trips, and special events. We hope you can join us!
Sincerely,
Janelle Long
Executive Director
Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory
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