Dear Hawk Ridge Friends,
Happy Summer and Happy 4th of July Weekend! Hawk Ridge has been busy teaching education programs, prepping for the fall bird migration season, and planning for our big Hawk Ridge 50th Anniversary Celebration (Sept. 22-25)! You can register HERE today for this special event! The Spring Count ended May 31st with approximately 19,000 raptors of 16 species counted, as well as 19,000+ other birds (~130 different species). You can view the raptor total HERE or full spring count totals HERE. Thanks again for your support and we hope to see you this fall, especially at the special celebration of the 50th Anniversary of Hawk Ridge Nature Reserve!
P.S. If you missed our last e-newsletter, you can view that and older versions by clicking HERE.
Upcoming Events
Hawk Ridge 50th Anniversary Celebration!
.jpg "HRBO_50th_Anniversary_Poster_Color_4x6 (1)")
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. You can find all the details HERE! We invite you for this very special celebration and hope to see many of our Hawk Ridge friends from past and present!
REGISTER HERE TODAY! (*Early Bird Registration Discount ends August 1st!)
Panama: Under the River of Raptors!
October 25th - November 1st, 2022
REGISTER HERE TODAY (registration closes July 22nd)
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.
Pick A Bird Brain Series
March-August 2022 (virtual programs & field trips)
Pick a Bird Brain is back as a new series of virtual presentations with optional field trips! These will be held monthly March-August with a focus on bird families (woodpeckers to warblers and sparrows and more!). Each month, this series will look a little more in depth at particular groupings of birds during the virtual presentation, then follow with an optional birding field trip to see what we can find. You can register for the full series or a la carte for any of the virtual presentations or field trips (note: field trips have max of 15 participants). We hope you will join us! Check out the July program below (space is limited!) and more info on registration and monthly schedule HERE!
July 19 Virtual Program 7:00 pm – Cranes, Herons, and Loons
Did you know a loon is more closely related to cranes/herons, than other waterfowl? Join Margie to learn interesting and fun facts about cranes, herons, and loons!
July 23 Field Trip (location TBD) - Cranes, Herons, and Loons
Join us for a fun birding field trip in Duluth, MN (locations to be determined - participants will be notified). Field trip will focus on cranes, herons, and loons and whatever other feathered friends pop up along the way!
Research Spotlight & Limited Edition Kestrel Shirts!
The Upper Midwest American Kestrel Project
by Halle Lambeau
American Kestrels (Falco sparverius) are a keystone species of grassland habitat in the United States. Unfortunately, these small, colorful falcons are experiencing population declines throughout North America. Nest box programs have been established to provide breeding locations in high-quality habitat for kestrels. This research will combine large amounts of data from our collaborators with nest boxes in Minnesota (Sax-Zim Bog, Minnesota DNR) and Wisconsin (Madison Audubon Society, Central Wisconsin Kestrel Research, Cedar Grove Raptor Banding Station). With data from 475 nest boxes, we want to learn more about the optimal diet, temperature, and landscape conditions for kestrels with the hope of learning more about how we can effectively conserve kestrel populations. We will be using techniques such as stable isotope analysis of feathers to assess diet of kestrel chicks, temperature loggers to record conditions in nest boxes, and banding kestrels to track return rates.
Fundraising efforts are underway for this project and one way you can help support is by purchasing a beautiful, limited edition American Kestrel shirt! Get yours HERE today (first campaign ends July 12th)! This gorgeous t-shirt design was created by the incredible artist Emma Regnier (also Hawk Ridge research trainee 2020 & 2021!). Emma is a biologist and environmental educator currently working on a Golden Eagle project in Boise, Idaho!
.JPEG "kestrel_chick_szb (1)")
Recent update shared by Halle "This week, we started banding and taking measurements from American Kestrel chicks at our northernmost sites. It has been so much fun developing this project, and I can't wait to share my results! WOW, I am so blown away by the amazing support for my project. In just one week of the shirt fundraiser, we've doubled our fundraising goal! I want to sincerely thank everybody who has purchased a shirt, donated to the project, or shared the campaign! It means so much to me."
This project is led by Halle Lambeau, a Master’s student at the University of Minnesota Duluth, with the assistance of Frank Nicoletti and Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory, as well as nest box programs by the great folks at Friends of Sax-Zim Bog, Madison Audubon, Central Wisconsin Kestrel Research, Beaver Creek Reserve, and Cedar Grove Ornithological Research Station. All proceeds from this campaign will go directly towards funding data analysis, as well as the costs of monitoring equipment and mileage for this large-scale project. Thank you to the Minnesota Ornithologists' Union for important grant support and to all others helping make this project possible!
Hawk Ridge Nature Reserve Facilities Improvement Plan
.jpg "A beautiful day at Hawk Ridge Nature Reserve (photo by Gail Johnejack)")
The Hawk Ridge Nature Reserve Facilities Improvement Plan is continuing to receive positive response. We are happy to announce that in June the City of Duluth Parks & Recreation Commission and City Council approved our final mini-master plan, which can be viewed online HERE! We appreciate the helpful feedback received and it's clear that there are many people who enjoy Hawk Ridge Nature Reserve as a beloved outdoor space in Duluth and enjoy the programs and efforts of Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory through research, education, and stewardship. We look forward to implementing this plan to improve facilities at Hawk Ridge Nature Reserve for road safety issues, accessibility, increased education program space, and enhanced visitor viewing. Thank you to staff & committees (Hawk Ridge, SAS+ Associates, City of Duluth), people involved in focus groups, and the and public (members, visitors) for your input. We will continue to update you on next steps ahead with this exciting project!
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!
.jpg "Celebrate Diversity by E Regnier (2)")
Be sure to purchase one of our unique artist-designed Hawk Ridge shirts or tote bags online! Our featured artist is Emma Regnier, who completed both the Bird Banding & Bird Migration Count Research Traineeships at Hawk Ridge in 2020 & 2021. She created 2 new beautiful designs for our limited-edition shirts for 2021, including the popular "Celebrate Diversity" design pictured here!
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.
A group of Minnesota botanical artists applied their skills and knowledge to create a visual archival record of Minnesota's threatened boreal forest. Dr. Frelich, director for the Center for Forest Ecology, and Dr. Niemi, Professor Emeritus in the Department of Biology, University of Minnesota Duluth (and former Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory Board Member & Research Chair), as well as Jane Albers, DNR Forest Health Specialist, contributed research on threatened boreal trees, plants, birds, and insects. This collection is important because the ecology of the boreal forest is undergoing slow and silent but significant change due to disturbances caused by fire, invasive insects and stressful climate conditions. Books for sale online from various sellers, including HERE.
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
