Education - 2013 Season

Today was the last day of the 2013 overlook season.  How does it go by so fast?  We saw so many birds, met so many people, created so many memories.  Here are some of my favorites.

Jared, Greg, David, Darlene, Margie and Nancy...

Releasing a Broad-winged Hawk in memory of family member Fred, "The Hawk", Haakensen

This young visitor from Poland gets her code, JAMI, and a bird band.

About 175 children were able to pretend they were birds and get a band!

This poem, in the shape of a bird, was given to me by a visitor.

A

Red-tailed

Hawk

wears daylight and

wind-roughed feathers-fills meadow morning skies

like October streams meandering, watches grasshopper

shadows scattering, grasses rusting, yellow stalks shaking

flies afternoon hungry over mouse hurry, rabbits

running, descends to talon catch 

and shrew's cry until

vole full of blood red

flesh strands, he rests after

sundown, wearing darkness as a gift.

                                       David Clowers

                                           Sturgeon Bay, WI

The final count for private programs this season was 82.

Plus, there were public programs, songbird banding at the overlook, raptor releases, banding station tours and the countless other ways that we share our love of raptors and birds with you, our visitors and supporters.  

Time marches on...  I forgot to take the picture, but the leaves are gone now.

Bumper sticker spotted during Hawk Weekend.

Thank you for coming.  Thank you for your 

continued support.

"Keep Calm and Soar On".

We'll see you next year at the Ridge.

Gail Johnejack

Education Director

Weekly Banding Report: 10/22-28, 2013

There was no passerine banding this week except for education programs at the overlook. There will be a full report on all passerine banding in the next blog posting to date. The only exception was two birds banded that were caught in the raptor nets, both adult Northern Shrike. Always exciting to capture and band these songbirds which are very raptor like and bite and rip like no hawk or owl!!!!

Northern Shrike, image by Dave Alexander

The owl migration has been steady with fewer big nights of Saw-whets and larger owls starting to move. The best night was on the 26th which coincided with our last public owl program. The staff and volunteers did an amazing job with educating the nearly 60 folks. We were able to bring up both Saw-whets and Long-eared Owls. The night ended with 34 Saw-whets (1 retrap), 33 Long-eared and 1 Barred Owl which had its own band!!!!
The weekly totals of 200 owls are as follows: 134 Northern Saw-whet Owl, 63 Long-eared Owl and 3 Barred Owls.
-Annmarie Geniusz



Barred Owl, image by Rachel Harris

Hawk banding has been slower then expected especially after the flight of the 21st with flights reduced everyday since. The bulk of Red-tailed Hawks seem to done, which is somewhat surprising, and the goshawk numbers are lower than in past years. However, we have been enjoying capturing and banding Rough-legged Hawks which are always a treat to see and our first adult Goshawks.

The weekly totals of 70 are as follows: 9 Sharp-shinned Hawk, 22 Northern Goshawk, 24 Red-tailed Hawk, 14 Rough-legged Hawk and 1 Merlin.
-Frank Nicoletti, Chris Neri, Nova Mackently and David Alexander

Red-tailed Hawk, image by Chris Neri

Rough-legged Hawk, intermediate morph, image by Jerry Liguori

Adult female Goshawk, image by Rachel Harris

Frank Nicoletti
Banding Director

Raptor and non-raptor count summaries October 13-26th

Raptors

The last two weeks of October are always my favorite time for raptor flights, when all the larger, attractive hawks migrate against a backdrop of peak fall color. The migration has been dominated recently by Bald Eagles, Golden Eagles, Red-tailed Hawks, Rough-legged Hawks, and Northern Goshawks. Surprising numbers of Rough-legs have been the highlight the last week, including counts of 49 on October 22^nd, 30 on October 23rd, and 31 on October 24th. This Rough-leg flight has been dominated by juveniles, suggesting good production of young in the arctic, which is refreshing after last year when juveniles were virtually absent. The flight of raptors on October  21^st was one of the best I have seen at Hawk Ridge, including 135 Bald Eagles, 7 Northern Goshawks, 1135 Red-tails, 17 Rough-legs, and 20 Golden Eagles, especially since periodic snow squalls seemed to induce the birds to cut inland, often coming directly over the counting platform. Interestingly, despite continued northwest winds during the subsequent three days, the overall flight of raptors slowly decreased each day. Another pocket of birds seems to be arriving with a fresh cold front on October 26^th, so hopefully the next week will be full of fun raptors.

Non-raptors

 

Non-raptor migration has been slowly winding down the last few weeks, with about 16,000 counted in the last week. The season total is now at 264,838 migrating non-raptors, which is probably about average. Rusty Blackbirds and American Robins have been the most common migrants the last two weeks, including peaks of 5,246 Rusty Blackbirds on October 13th, and 4,551 American Robins on October 19th. It is still possible we will see another large push of robins, since I usually associate their peak with the departure of leaves from the trees, which has happened as late as October 31^st. Steady numbers of American Crows have also been marching down the shore over the last few weeks, including a peak of 1607 on October 19th. The great variety of songbirds we see earlier in the season has been mostly replaced by more wintry types such as American Tree Sparrows, Dark-eyed Juncos, and Snow Buntings.

Eastern Bluebirds have been remarkably common the last few weeks, with a state record count of 262 on October 18^th. The bluebirds just seem to keep coming and coming: on October 23^rd another 158 Eastern Bluebirds flew over, including a single flock of 60, which is the largest flock I have ever seen, and on October 26^th another 174 Eastern Bluebirds flew over, including two Mountain Bluebirds, which briefly landed in a spruce tree. The season count is now over 1018 Eastern Bluebirds, which is by far the best season yet!

Karl Bardon

Count Director

Adult male Rough-legged Hawk over Hawk Ridge

Cold-weather Raptors

Today's flight of raptors was a relatively slow one. The dense air and south winds kept much of the migration at bay. Weather plays a dramatic role on raptor migration from day-to-day. With the tough migrating conditions earlier today, birds had to fly into a headwind, in addition to manually "propelling" themselves through the damp air.  By 3:00pm today, the hawk counters had tallied 14 raptors. The day started out on a special note, with the first raptor of the day being a dark morph Rough-legged Hawk!

Gusty winds kept even the most stable-footed hawkwatchers on their toes. The birds as a whole were low-flying, with several Bald Eagles were seen below the lookout on the lake-side of the overlook. Shown below is a distant adult Bald Eagle migrating by today!

The dense, northward-blowing winds also made it difficult for songbirds to cover great distances while heading south.  A sizable flock of beautiful Snow Buntings made their way southward in the mid-morning hours. Other highlights from the day's flight included at least two Northern Shrikes (adult, shown in the image below), and an uncommon-for-the-area Red-bellied Woodpecker. As the Red-bellied Woodpecker flew by, it hosted the red top of the head, as well as the black wings with bold white crescent that can be seen on each wing. They are a stunning woodpecker species, found more commonly south of Duluth away from the boreal forest.

Tomorrow's forecast is calling for cloudy skies and strong winds out of the northwest. It could be a good day, as well as could Sunday. Northwest winds are often associated with cold fronts moving through. Should a significant flight of birds push through, the main push of birds could start mid-day/early-afternoon tomorrow, and go throughout Sunday and into Monday. With today's slow migration, there aren't many raptors that will push through first thing tomorrow morning. Give them time, and they will come. Bring on the cold front!

See you at the ridge!

Good hawkwatching,

Erik Bruhnke
Count Interpreter

Hawk Ridge Volunteers

Today you will get to meet another couple of amazing volunteers. They have been a lot of help and are very supportive of Hawk Ridge in so many ways. Gene and Susan Bauer are volunteers who have been committed to Hawk Ridge since they started volunteering and have a growing passion to continue. Susan and Gene travel from Northfield, MN every time they volunteer and they usually stay in Duluth a few days. They come together, but they have different interests while volunteering at the main overlook. Susan has been working with kids at the kids cart and really likes to "band" the kids and make bird crafts with them. In fact, Sue helped us "band" and do crafts with kids on a day when we had 6 classes at once at the Ridge! Gene on the other hand, loves to connect with visitors and practice raptor identification with them. Gene also has a growing interest in leading banding station tours next year.

Sue at the kids cart

Gene greeting visitors

 They are always willing to help with whatever is needed and put in full days at the ridge when they come. They have been here for the past few days and stuck it out all day through the cold weather. They are also willing to help at the office, as well as, during the off season. During their last visit, Sue dedicated time to help process some of the many adopts that we have had this season and I know Jessica was very grateful of that.

Along with volunteering, Susan and Gene support Hawk Ridge by adopting birds every season. During their last visit, they adopted a Northern Goshawk, Rough-legged Hawk and a Fox Sparrow. They are very kind to donate in this way, as well as give their time to support Hawk Ridge.

Gene with an immature Northern Goshawk

Gene with an immature Rough-legged Hawk

Gene and Sue are very special people and we are very happy to have them volunteering with us at Hawk Ridge. They are always welcoming and warm to visitors, of all experience and age. I know that whomever comes to the ridge and gets a chance to talk with Sue and Gene will leave with a wonderful picture of Hawk Ridge. Thanks so much for all you do Sue and Gene!

Katie Swanson
Volunteer Coordinator

Hawk Ridge Fall Newsletter 2013

October is quickly winding down, but there's still time to visit Hawk Ridge to enjoy the migration! Naturalists and volunteers will be at the Hawk Ridge Nature Reserve main overlook daily from 9am-4pm until October 31st! If you haven't read or received the Hawk Ridge Fall Newsletter 2013 yet, you can view it online now by clicking here (the featured raptor is the Red-tailed Hawk, which we've been seeing a lot of this last week!). You can also see all of our news on our website at: http://www.hawkridge.org/about/news.html.

Red-tailed Hawk, photo by Erik Bruhnke

Don't forget that this weekend we are holding our annual Fall Raffle Drawing on Sunday, October 27th at 1pm! Tickets will be sold until the raffle drawing ($5/ticket) at the Hawk Ridge Nature Reserve main overlook. You do not have to be present to win! Thanks to the raffle donors for the following great prizes:

Atlas Optics 10x24 Intrepid Binoculars
Courtesy of Eagle Optics

Prize #1: Duluth Pack Scout Pack (Duluth Pack), Atlas Optics 10x42 Intrepid ED Binoculars (Eagle Optics), Binocular Strap & Hat (Eagle Optics), Crossly Raptors ID Guide (Princeton University Press), Lens Cleaning Kit (Swarovski Optik)

Prize #2: Guided Sax-Zim Bog Birding Tour for 3 (Naturally Avian - Erik Bruhnke)

Prize #3: Customized Hawk Ridge Fleece Jacket & Hat (Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory)

Duluth Pack Scout Pack
Courtesy of Duluth Pack Store

We also truly appreciate your support this fall and beyond. It's been great connecting with many returning and new visitors at Hawk Ridge this season.

Janelle Long
Executive Director

Education - Owl Programs

Many people have experienced the beauty of Hawk Ridge and daytime migrating raptors. However, the bird activity doesn’t stop when the sun sets. Owl programs run at Main Overlook in the evening starting at the end of September through the month of October. Just like high flying Red-tailed Hawks and speedy falcons, the owls of the northland begin to move through the forest with the changing of the seasons.  Throughout the owl program, visitors have a chance to learn about the differences between daytime and nighttime raptors as well as owl identification and special adaptations. 



Full moon from owl program.  Photo by J. Chatterton



There are different species of owls that may be found in the woods around the main overlook. A majority of the owls banded during the season are the diminutive but feisty Northern Saw-Whet owls.  It’s hard to believe that this small, tuft-less bird is flying silently around us through the woods. However, after getting a close up look at their sharp talons and learning about their nocturnal adaptations, it is clear that saw-whets are hardy birds!

This season, we have been lucky enough to also see a Long-eared Owl and a Barred Owl up close during the evening program. Both of these species are banded on an annual basis, but it is a rare treat to see them during the owl program because they are typically active later in the night. As the days become shorter, the owls become active earlier in the evening, which allows us a better chance of seeing these elusive animals up close.

Nothern Saw-whet Owl.  Photo by A. Geniusz



Visitor with Northern Saw-whet Owl just before release.  Photo by N. Zappitello

Remember, autumn evenings can vary greatly in temperature and weather.  If you purchase a ticket for an owl program, check the forecast and dress for the conditions. It is important to wear layers, including good footwear and a hat and gloves. Some visitors even bring a blanket to wrap around their shoulders and a chair cushion to sit on! The program typically runs from 8:00 pm to 10:00 pm. The last owl program of the 2013 season is scheduled for Saturday October 26^th. 

 

If you have ever wondered how owls nest, what they eat, or what makes them amazing predators, the owl program is the perfect way to experience another facet of Hawk Ridge and learn all about these mysterious nocturnal raptors!

Sarah Glesner

Owl Program Naturalist



Female Long-eared Owl.  Photo by A. Geniusz



Owl Bander, Annmarie Geniusz, displays the wing of a Barred Owl.  Photo by S. Bockhold