Dear Hawk Ridge Friends,
Happy Fall Bird Migration! We welcome another great crew to share the magic of migration with you this fall and welcome you to visit Hawk Ridge! We've had a wonderful start to the season with nearly 100,000 birds of approx. 130 species counted so far since August 15th (including nearly 25,000 raptors of 13 species)! Our counters have been counting many migrating butterflies & dragonflies too! You can check out all the species count totals HERE! Our passerine & raptor banders have also been hard at work - check out the banding totals for passerines HERE and raptors HERE! You can find out more in the August count & banding summaries below.
As of September 1st, our education and visitor services staff and volunteers are now at the main overlook at Hawk Ridge Nature Reserve between 9am-4pm (rain/fog pending)! We invite you to come visit our knowledgeable, friendly team at the Ridge this fall (meet the staff HERE)! For helpful info on planning your visit - click HERE for our Fall Visitor's Guide. NOTE: Hawk Weekend Festival (9/18-9/20) registration closes Mon. 9/14 for field trips/workshops, but all are still welcome to visit Hawk Ridge during the festival ($5 wristband for public hourly programs). More info HERE. Email jlong@hawkridge.org on trip availability/waitlist info. P.S. Find out more below on events and programs, such as our evening owl programs, the next international birding trip heading to Guatemala, and don't miss out on discounted registration until September 30th for the international Raptor Research Foundation 60th Anniversary Conference we are hosting (Oct 26-31).If you missed our last e-newsletter, you can view that and older versions by clicking HERE. Keep up with recent news by following us on Facebook and Instagram.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Plan Your Fall Visit to Hawk Ridge
September 1st - October 31st, 2025
Daily 9am-4pm
2026 marks the 55th consecutive fall season of bird migration research and education at Hawk Ridge Nature Reserve in Duluth, MN - one of the premier fall bird migration sites in North America! We look forward to connecting with visitors of all ages from around the world! Here are some helpful links with information on visiting this fall:
PLAN YOUR VISIT
DIRECTIONS
LODGING
Whoo doesn’t like owls? From large to small, seasonal travelers, and hardy residents, Minnesota hosts a fascinating diversity of owls, with some crazy habits, and some hauntingly beautiful sounds in the night. Join us this fall to learn about the Hawk Ridge owl banding research through one of our public evening owl programs or schedule a small group owl program. Click HERE for more info.
Saturday evening public programs:
October 3rd & Oct. 17th at 8pm
Cost: $10 member/student or $15 nonmember
Purchase tickets by clicking HERE (limited tickets & do sell out!)
Small group owl programs (up to 8): offered Sept. 22-Oct. 31 (Tues. or Thurs-Sat. evenings) with date/time to be arranged by sending an email to owls@hawkridge.org. $40 member/student or $50 nonmember.
New Accessible Trail - Ribbon Cutting Ceremony
Wed. September 16th, 2026 at 3pm
All are invited by Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory & the City of Duluth to celebrate the newly constructed, universally accessible trail at Hawk Ridge Nature Reserve. The ribbon cutting will take place at Hawk Ridge with a few speakers from Hawk Ridge and the City of Duluth followed by a tour of the trail led by Hawk Ridge staff. Funding for this project was provided by the Minnesota Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund as recommended by the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCCMR).
September 18-20, 2026
We invite you to join us to celebrate the amazing fall bird migration with us! Hawk Weekend is the annual festival held by Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory in Duluth, MN. Bird migration research and education programs have been shared with visitors throughout the world each fall at Hawk Ridge Nature Reserve for over 50 years! Join us for a fun weekend with a variety of birding field trips, nature hikes, programs, and activities for all ages!
Registration CLOSES Mon 9/14 for field trips and workshops, but all are welcome to still join us at Hawk Ridge Nature Reserve for programs ($5 daily wristbands can be purchased in person) and more details can be found HERE! Email jlong@hawkridge.org for limited space and waitlist availability for other pre-registered field trips, workshops, and Friday evening festival kick-off event.
Everyone Can Bird: Accessible Birding Series
Sat. October 17th, 2026
Raptor Research Foundation Conference
October 26-30, 2026
REGISTER TODAY! (discounted rates by Sept 30)
Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory is excited to announce we are hosting the international Raptor Research Foundation 60th Anniversary Conference this fall! The conference will be held October 26-30, 2026 at the Holiday Inn Downtown Duluth with pre/post field trips & workshops on Oct 27 & Oct 31. There is also a post-conference technical tree climbing workshop for raptor research Nov 2-4. Registration is open with discounted rates available until Sept 30th. Find out more about the Raptor Research Foundation go to: https://raptorresearchfoundation.org/2026-conference/.
P.S. Conference logo designed by artist Emma Regnier (@falcofous). We love seeing those beautiful Rough-legged Hawks with the fall Hawk Ridge Lake Superior landscape and hope you can enjoy them with us too!
International Birding Tour
Birding the Highlands of Guatemala
March 7-16, 2027 (with optional post trip March 16-20)
Join Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory for an amazing birding adventure! Guatemala is a richly diverse cultural center and a lush and vibrant paradise for birders. Set in the heart of Central America, it sits within one of the Western Hemisphere’s prime migratory corridors and is overwinter grounds for a wide array of North American breeding birds. Join Margie Menzies, Hawk Ridge Education Director, and local guides to look for more than 20 regional endemic highland species. There will also be an optional extension March 16-20 to visit the Tikal region and spend a day at a working tropical banding station at Las Guacamayas and learn about their efforts with both resident native species as well as tracking the wintering grounds of North American Species. More information and registration info HERE with Holbrook Travel.
RESEARCH UPDATES
Fall Bird Migration Count Update
August is in the books, and it has been a record start to the season at the count! We have counted 3,047 raptors since August 15th, more than any other August in count history! Highlights from the month include six days of 100+ Broad-winged Hawks, an early American Goshawk and migrant Merlins recorded every day of the count. As we start September, nearly 22,000 raptors have been counted. Sharp-shinned Hawks are really on move, with several days near 1,000 counted daily (including our first day of 1,100+ on Sep 6)! Broad-winged Hawks are also picking up with over 11,500 counted over this past weekend (Sep 12-13). 3 Swainson's Hawks were also counted (Sep 9, 11, 13).
Songbirds on the move! The first few weeks of September have been exceptional for non-raptor flights at Hawk Ridge. Some highlights have included several days of 2000+ warblers (Sep 1, 2, 9, 10), as well as two days of 100+ Rose-breasted Grosbeaks (Sep 1, 9)!! These morning flights have kept counters busy, and some foggy days in between allowed for much needed rest. Songbird diversity is changing by the day, so make sure to do some warbler-watching this week.
Thanks to all who visited this past month and helped spot birds! We hope to see you at the Ridge soon! Be sure to follow along with the live count on Trektellen HERE and raptor count on HawkCount HERE.
Sean McLaughlin
Lead Counter
August 2026 Passerine Banding Summary
August is the time of year when summer MAPS banding transitions into migration-focused passerine banding for the rest of the fall. This August, passerine banding has been continued to be led by Margie Menzies and David Alexander with a number of other fantastic volunteers. New and exciting news is that Hawk Ridge has hired a full-time passerine bander for the fall season, June Yost! June is returning after her banding apprenticeship from last fall, as the new Fall Passerine Bander. This position will be a great addition to the growing passerine banding research and education and to help lighten the workload for the rest of the team!
Fall passerine banding began on August 3rd. Through August 31st, we banded 858 passerines of 48 species. Our busiest day of the month was on the 23rd, when we banded 90 passerines of 22 species. Among the 48 species we banded in August, the most numerous were American Redstarts with 189 individuals banded. Our other most commonly caught species were Tennessee Warbler (74), Traill’s Flycatcher (59), Veery (40), Chestnut-Sided Warbler (38), Ovenbird (34), and Nashville Warbler (30).
Our most exciting capture of the month was a Broad Winged-Hawk on August 25th! Though we count thousands of Broad-Winged Hawks and band a few at Hawk Ridge every fall, this was the first time one has ever been captured in our passerine nets. Additionally, on August 31st we caught a hatch-year female Pileated Woodpecker, which is another rare capture for our passerine nets! It was also a great month for Cedar Waxwings, which we’ve banded 22 of so far.
As we move into September, we are expecting even more captures as songbirds start to migrate in higher numbers. You can view the passerine banding totals via Trektellen HERE!
August 2026 Raptor Banding Summary
Raptor banding at the Hawk Ridge station was led by Senior Research Associate Frank Nicoletti starting on August 15th. A total of 39 raptors were banded at the station during August, more than doubling the number that were banded last August. Most notable were two young American Goshawks and an astounding six hatch-year Broad-winged Hawks.
Total raptors banded in August were as follows:
Sharp-shinned Hawk – 18
Cooper’s Hawk – 1
Merlin – 5
Red-tailed Hawk – 7
Broad-winged Hawk – 6
American Goshawk – 2
Total: 39
At the end of August, the rest of the banding staff arrived. This year’s staff includes several familiar faces! Lead Raptor Bander Tim Baerwald returns for another season as well as Raptor Bander Sarah Needles. This year’s Banding Apprentices are Peter Mundale (past Naturalist and Counter) and Taylor Peltier (2026 Avian Field Tech), who will spend the season learning the intricacies of trapping and banding both diurnal raptors and owls. Owl banding starts on September 15th and we welcome Holly Erickson and Kaia Hilgendorf-Roost (2025 Banding Apprentice) as our Owl Banders for the season.
Banding staff and volunteers made a special trip down to The Raptor Center at the end of August to learn sampling techniques for the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza surveillance that is continuing this fall. A special trip was made to the Bell Museum’s specimen collection to learn about their Salvage Wildlife project. We are also excited to be partnering with Wildwoods Wildlife Rehabilitation on a new project testing raptors for lead (Pb). More updates to come on these research projects!
Support Broad-winged Hawk Research!
Community observations play an important role in the success of this project — thank you to everyone who shared sightings for this project whether it was through our survey, eBird, or iNaturalist. Thank you also to the landowners who allowed us to access their properties to search for and observe nests. Many hours of work go into this sort of project and we hope to continue into the coming years.
To support the project through donating any amount or sponsoring a transmitter click HERE. You can also support the project by buying a Broad-winged Hawk shirt featuring artwork by local avian researcher and UMD graduate student, Abby Odegard. Click HERE to order yours today. Thank you to the Minnesota Ornithologists' Union and all of our generous donors for making this work possible! To learn more about the goals of the project click HERE.
OTHER NEWS
Fall Featured Artist - Christina Baal
Hawk Ridge features an artist each fall who either currently has artwork or creates a special design to be featured on our shirts for sale in our gift shop/merchandise trailer. Our merchandise sales are an important fundraiser for Hawk Ridge. We are happy to feature Christina Baal for 2026 with 2 new beautiful designs! One features 3 raptors (a falcon - American Kestrel, an accipiter - American Goshawk, and a buteo - Red-tailed Hawk) and the other features many owl species and many that you can find here in Northern MN! We love them both and hope you do too!
Christina Baal is a passionate birder, artist and naturalist who believes in using art as a way to understand the natural world. Her dream in life is to meet and paint as many birds in the world as she can. A New York native, Christina fell in love with birding while attending Bard College in the Hudson Valley. Since then, she has traveled and lived in places across the country as varied as a small, bear-filled village in southeast Alaska to the epic valleys of the Gabilan Mountains in California. While not making art, Christina works in environmental education and enjoys sharing her love of birds through her art as well as through teaching art classes, leading nature walks, and working as a professional bird guide.
To see more of her work, visit drawingtenthousandbirds.com
NEW Accessible Trail Loop at Hawk Ridge!
We are excited to announce construction is complete and trail will be open in advance of the start of the 2026 fall bird migration soon! This is part of the first phase of the Hawk Ridge Nature Reserve’s Facilities Improvements Mini-Master Plan for Accessibility, Safety, & Education. The new accessible trail loop includes improved access to current education program area, visitor observation area below the count platform, boardwalk upgrade, and will connect to future accessible education facilities. Future improvements include additional education program areas, accessible restroom, interpretive signage, roadway safety & parking improvements, observation viewing decks, picnic shelter, amphitheater, & nature playscape.
Ribbon cutting ceremony to be held Wednesday, September 16th 3pm at Hawk Ridge! Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory is appreciative of the partners that worked with us in collaboration with the City of Duluth, SAS+ Associates, and Zenith Trail Contracting. NOTE: Please follow all trail user notices. This is a pedestrian & mobility device accessible only trail - no bikes, horses, motorized vehicles, e-scooters. Funding for this project was provided by the Minnesota Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund as recommended by the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCCMR).
Education Scholarship Funding Needed!
Contribute to the Hawk Ridge Education Scholarship Fund today! Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory offers environmental education program opportunities for schools Pre-K through college from all across the region. We have continued to keep our program costs low and affordable for schools to have the amazing opportunity to experience and learn about both spring and fall migration through educational programming.
Each year the need for assistance with programming fees continues to grow with an average of 65% of schools visiting requesting scholarship assistance. The Hawk Ridge Education Scholarship Fund allows us to provide these types of scholarships to schools. In the past 5 years, Hawk Ridge has awarded nearly $8,000 dollars in scholarship funds! Help us help students and schools come to experience Hawk Ridge! We are hoping to raise at least $2,000 in 2026 to award scholarships. To make a donation to the Education Scholarship Fund, please click HERE. We truly appreciate your support!
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 help us keep sharing the magic of the bird migration!
Ulvang Memorial Fund for Count and Banding Research
You can contribute to the Ulvang Memorial Fund today to help support count and banding research at Hawk Ridge Nature Reserve. The Ulvang Memorial Fund is named for two boys who were inspired by the original Duluth hawk count. Bill and Bob were affected by the kindness, encouragement and enthusiasm of teachers and mentors who taught them about birds in general and hawks in particular. The story begins about 75 years ago in the very early years of the hawk count at what would later be formed as Hawk Ridge Nature Reserve, which you can read more about by clicking HERE.
Please consider donating to the Ulvang Memorial Fund. Your gift will help continue the important long-term monitoring efforts at Hawk Ridge that contribute to bird conservation research and continue to inspire others about birds for generations now and in the future! DONATE HERE TODAY!
P.S. The West Skyline Hawk Count is one of the long-term monitoring efforts by Hawk Ridge - you can find the 2026 report HERE!
Support Hawk Ridge by Shopping!
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!
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.
Thank you again for your appreciated gift of support! Hope to connect with you soon - feel free to reach out by email at jlong@hawkridge.org with any questions.
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
