Dear Hawk Ridge Friends,
We are looking forward to the spring migration and hope you can join us for our upcoming March & April birding events! You can read more about the fun events below. We are also happy to announce exciting news to introduce initial plans we've been working on to improve and enhance our education facilities at Hawk Ridge Nature Reserve!
These plans are intended to help address road safety issues, accessibility improvements, increased education program space, and enhanced visitor viewing. We will be holding a public open house for comments on Wednesday, March 2nd from 6-8pm at the Portman Community Center 601 McCulloch St, Duluth, MN. You can also submit your comments online HERE or contact me directly at jlong@hawkridge.org. We appreciate your input and can't wait to share more about this with you this spring!
P.S. If you missed our last e-newsletter, you can view that and older versions by clicking HERE.
Upcoming Events
Join Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory and the Hawk Migration Association of North America for an immersive late winter/early spring birding tour based out of Duluth, MN! Birders and nature photographers will engage with the boreal forest and Lake Superior region, as expert guides, Frank Nicoletti and Josh Haas, provide excellent views of Northern specialty bird species and the techniques and tips for capturing images of these hard-to-find birds. Proceeds from this trip helps support the raptor research and education of both HRBO and HMANA!
The expansive bog lands, boreal forests, and Lake Superior shorelines of Duluth, MN, and environs, offer a uniquely accessible opportunity to see specialty birds of the northern climes in winter. We hope to see Great Gray, Snowy, & Northern Hawk Owls. We will also target Black-backed Woodpecker, Pine Grosbeak, Evening Grosbeak, and all three common grouse species, Sharp-tailed, Ruffed, and Spruce. If conditions line up, it also could be an excellent trip for irruptive winter finches (crossbills, redpolls), gulls (Glaucous, Iceland), waterfowl (Long-tailed & Harlequin Duck) and more! Hannah Toutonghi will also present on her exciting Northern Hawk Owl Project graduate research on one of the evenings!
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The tour will also occur when spring migrants return, so both Bald & Golden Eagle and other migrants will be on the move at the Hawk Ridge spring site, the West Skyline Hawk Watch. An average of 25,000 raptors migrate through each March-May, and a record 1,076 Bald Eagles were counted there in ONE day in March of 2019! The days will be filled with exciting birding adventures with an itinerary for each day dependent on birds and the weather conditions. For more details on itinerary and registration, please click HERE. We hope you can join us for this amazing tour!
March 1 - May 31, 2022
2022 marks the 5th consecutive, full spring season of bird migration monitoring research at the West Skyline Spring Count in Duluth, MN! This is one of the premier spring bird migration sites in North America with record numbers of Bald and Golden Eagles, as well as other raptor species. The spring migration count average from 2018-2021 is over 25,000 raptors and thousands of other birds. Over 125 different bird species were recorded in 2021! Spring migration highlights include an amazing diversity of 15-20 different raptor species, as outlined:
Peak for each species (high counts listed)
- Eagles: around March 25 (Bald: 100-500/day; Golden: 10/day)
- Rough-legged Hawks: April 10-20 (up to 75/day)
- Red-tailed Hawks: April 10-20 (1,000-2,000/day)
- Broad-winged Hawks: May 1-10 (3,000-4,000/day)
- Sharp-shinned Hawks: April 10-20 (up to 450/day)
P.S. Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory (HRBO) in Duluth, Minnesota is seeking one Spring Naturalist/Count Interpreter to help educate visitors and students about the amazing spring bird migration at the West Skyline Spring Count. This is a seasonal full-time position April 1 – May 31, 2022. CLICK HERE for info on how to apply.
Spring Migration Weekend Workshop
April 22-24th, 2022
SAVE THE DATE!
Join us for a great weekend to enjoy the spring migration in the field, while learning about the overall science of spring migration, basic ID skills, counting essentials, natural history, interesting current Hawk Ridge Research! We'll learn first hand at the West Skyline Spring Count, one of the top spring raptor migration sites in the US, as well as birding trips to the Duluth Harbor and St. Louis River area for migrants of all types! Participants will have multiple options for how they choose to participate in the workshop. Sessions will be either grouped as the full weekend experience at a discounted price or you can select which activities you would like to attend and choose them a la carte. Registration will open the first week of March!
Hawk Ridge 50th Anniversary Celebration!
Sept. 22-25th, 2022
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Hawk Ridge is turning 50!! Be sure to SAVE THE DATE for our 50th Anniversary Event! 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 on Thurs. 9/22/22! Our annual Hawk Weekend Festival will follow that weekend (Fri. 9/23 - Sun. 9/25) with a great line up of speakers, field trips, and special events. We invite you for this very special celebration and hope to see many of our Hawk Ridge friends from past and present!
Panama: Under the River of Raptors!
October 25th - November 1st, 2022
Hawk Ridge is heading back to Panama again this fall for another amazing birding and nature trip! Margie Menzies, Hawk Ridge Education Director, in cooperation with Holbrook Travel will be accompanying a lucky group to witness this incredible river of raptors in peak season, as well as other birding and nature hotspots.
At Hawk Ridge, we are thrilled with incredible views of thousands to tens of thousands of raptors a day during fall migration season. The hawk count site in Panama counted over 2 million raptors in one day with daily counts ranging in the hundreds of thousands! This is a great opportunity to see where many of our northern migrants are heading during the fall for their wintering grounds.
In addition to seeing raptors, we will experience the best of birding in Panama with visits to a variety of settings including rainforest, cloud forest, tropical dry forest, and Mangrove habitats, among others, each with it’s own unique endemic species, colorful and unique local resident birds, and visiting migratory species. The tour group will be guided each day on this expedition by an expert local guide in each region of the trip. Click HERE for general information and HERE for full itinerary/registration. We hope you can join us! P.S. There is also a pre-extension trip to the Darien Oct. 20-25th - more details on that portion of trip HERE.
Thank You for Your Support!
Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory thanks all of our supporters. We appreciate you! As a nonprofit organization, we are primarily funded by individual gifts to put our bird migration research and education programs in action. Below are some of the ways you can help us keep sharing the magic of the bird migration!
Support Hawk Ridge by Shopping!
If you like to shop on Amazon, we'd also super appreciate you adding Hawk Ridge as a charity you support via Amazon Smile. Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory receives a donation of 0.5% of eligible purchases!.
Become A Member Today!
If you're already a member of Hawk Ridge, we sincerely appreciate your support! THANK YOU! If you're not a member and have enjoyed your experience with Hawk Ridge, we invite you to 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!
Books with Portion of Proceeds coming to Hawk Ridge!
Art on the Edge of the Boreal Forest: Alternative Futures for the trees, birds and insects
Original art by ten Minnesota artists
Text by Lee Frelich, Ph.D. and Gerald Niemi, Ph.D.
Hawks on High - Everyday Miracles in a Hawk Ridge Season
By Phil Fitzpatrick with drawings by Penny Perry
Phil Fitzpatrick captures the magic of migration at Hawk Ridge and interesting bird bits beyond through his beautiful collection of poetry. Poems are brought to life through the artwork of Penny Perry. Books for sale online and at Hawk Ridge Nature Reserve during the fall season September 1 - October 31.
Simply Donate
You can always simply donate online by clicking HERE or by mailing a check made out to Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory, P.O. Box 3006, Duluth, MN 55803.
Sincerely,
Janelle Long
Executive Director
Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory
Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory
P.O. Box 3006
Duluth, MN 55803-3006
Call: 218-428-6209
Contact: mail@hawkridge.org
Visit: www.hawkridge.org
501(c)3 Non-Profit Organization
Federal Tax ID 76-0746366
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