Meet Our Environmental Education Trainee

Hello!  My name is Julia Luger and I am Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory's new Environmental Education Trainee. These first few weeks at the ridge have been great and I am excited to tell you all about my traineeship and some of the new happenings with environmental education at Hawk Ridge.

This season, we are featuring new interpretive signs that illustrate all of the important things that have been and will be happening up at the ridge.  These signs are a permanent feature at the ridge so learning can occur even when Hawk Ridge staff isn’t present.  Be sure to check out these new signs when you aren’t busy scanning the sky!

We are creating a new trail activity for student groups this year.  This kit will be part mystery, part scavenger hunt, and part bird identification all brought together to help students learn about raptors and get the most out of their visit to Hawk Ridge.  If you find a bag or bucket on the trail, let a staff member or volunteer know but do not bring it back to the ridge, we may be waiting on a student group to arrive.  If you are an educator interested in this activity, please contact our Education Director for more information.

Throughout the season, we will be updating and growing our public programs.  Be sure to check in to see what we have going on!

As a trainee, I will be learning more about becoming an environmental educator.  I will get a one-of-a-kind, hands-on learning and teaching experience at the ridge. Throughout this season, I hope to learn more about hawks, bird migration and how to get children truly interested in the natural world around them. I am excited to help grow the Hawk Ridge environmental education program and cannot wait to see what the season has in store.

See you up on the ridge!

Julia Luger
Hawk Ridge Environmental Education Trainee

Hawk Weekend Festival Sept. 19-21, 2014

Come celebrate the migration at our annual Hawk Weekend Festival event!   

REGISTER TODAY for the Hawk Weekend Festival 2014 taking place Friday, September 19st - Sunday September 21st!  http://www.hawkridge.org/events/hawk_weekend/registration2014.html

Start the weekend off with an optional Friday all-day field trip to the Sax-Zim Bog Important Bird Area. Bird the famous bog, known for great boreal species. Possible species include Gray Jay, Boreal Chickadee, Black-backed Woodpecker, Magpies, sparrows and other migrating species (cost $90 members/students, $100 non-members).

Register for the full weekend ($115 members/students, $165 non-members) and enjoy both Fri. & Sat. evening dinners/speakers, 1 field trip Sat. (birding by boat trip additional cost), 1 field trip Sun., & 1 raptor identification workshop. Hawk Weekend Festival field trips, workshops, and evening events are beginning to fill up! Tickets are limited for these special offerings.

Hawk Ridge Legacy Award  to Jan Green

 

Friday evening highlights include fabulous dinner buffet, the   Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory Annual Member Meeting at 6:45pm including the Hawk Ridge Legacy Award being presented to Janet Green, followed by a great presentation from Laura Erickson, “Laura’s Conservation Big Year –604 species and tons of fun”! 

Natural History and Birds of the St. Louis River!

Optional Saturday birding by boat field trip "Natural History and Birds of the St. Louis River Basin". Cruise the St. Louis River on the Vista Queen boat to learn about the exciting natural history of the estuary, while birding along the way. This trip will be co-led by expert birder, Laura Erickson, who recently completed her own conservation 'Big Year' with a total of 604 bird species recorded. Lake Superior National Estuarine Research Reserve Education Coordinator, Deanna Erickson, will share her passion for the river's ecology and interesting natural history facts. ($50 members/students, $60 non-members)

 Saturday highlights include  fabulous dinner buffet, exciting fundraiser with wonderful packages, and a great presentation on owls from expert Dr. James R. Duncan, "Manitoba’s Volunteer Nocturnal Owl Survey: An Evaluation of 23 Years of Citizen Science in Action."

All activities at the Hawk Ridge Nature Reserve are open to the public; everything else requires registration.

NEW commemorative Hawk Weekend Festival t-shirt with beautiful Sharp-shinned Hawk art design by popular Duluth artist Adam Swanson.Limited t-shirts available for purchase ($31) during the event! 

More of Adam’s art can be found at Siiviis and at Lizzards Gallery in Duluth, at Sivertson’s Gallery in Grand Marais, and at his website adamswanson.com.

For more details about the Hawk Weekend festival, go to www.hawkridge.org or contact us at 218-428-6209 or mail@hawkridge.org.  

We hope to see you at the festival and at Hawk Ridge this fall season! Naturalist staff and volunteers are on-site at Hawk Ridge Nature Reserve every day 9am-4pm through October 31!

Thanks!

Janelle Long

Hawk Ridge Executive Director

Hawk Ridge Volunteers Make A Difference!

What does it mean to volunteer at Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory? Well, in the most simple way to put it, it means that the volunteers are our right-hand helpers and help with EVERYTHING! So, if you were to ask a volunteer, what does it mean to volunteer at Hawk Ridge? You would likely get a variety of responses. To us, they are the glue that keeps this organization functioning. We have a lot of big ideas at Hawk Ridge and our volunteers help make those ideas happen. We could not function in the same capacity without them.

Marie, Overlook volunteer

In general, our volunteers help us at the main overlook during the fall season at the Hawk Ridge Nature Reserve. They greet and inform the public about the migration. They help with pointing out birds and teaching people how to identify birds. If they do not know how to teach about identifying birds in they air, they can teach people how to use binoculars and show people different wings, tails and talons we have. If nothing else, our volunteers are a friendly face that says hello and welcomes visitors when they come to the Ridge and that is probably the most important job after all.

Our volunteers also help out in a lot of ways with the behind-the-scenes tasks. We have specially trained volunteers helping Frank with both the raptor and passerine banding programs. We have volunteers that help with the count and volunteers that come to the office to assist Janelle with administrative duties. Volunteers also help with trail work and the stewardship management aspects of keeping the nature reserve in order.

Rachael, Banding Station Volunteer

Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory is a community of people coming together for the same reasons,  a love for nature and a love for birds. Our volunteers come to Hawk Ridge for not only share those same reasons, but also exemplify to the public what it means to serve for a greater purpose. I can honestly say that every volunteer I have met is a great inspiration, especially when it comes to showing what it means to give to what you care about. This passion  is passed on to the staff, visitors, and other volunteers. Volunteers help keep our dream and vision alive.

With that, I would like to say THANK YOU to all the volunteers who are here to help with everything that we need to achieve our mission of bird conservation research, education, and stewardship of Hawk Ridge Nature Reserve. You are the best!

P.S. If you are visiting and have a chance to chat with one of our volunteers, please give them a special thank you as well. What a fine, dedicated crew we have!

Harry, Overlook volunteer

Katie Swanson
Hawk Ridge Volunteer Director

Hawk Ridge Banding Report September 1-10, 2014

This is the Hawk Ridge banding report for the period of September 1-10, 2014. 

Passerine Banding Summary
 
Raptor movement  was certainly below some expectations, while the passerine migration seem strong. The passerine banding was in operation for three days in September, thus far, yielding 340 birds banded of 28 species. First of the season included Myrtle Warbler, Western Palm Warbler, Lincoln Sparrow, and Swamp Sparrow

Margie Menzies
Hawk Ridge Songbird Bander/Naturalist

 

Northern Oriole (image by Margie Menzies)

Raptor Banding Summary

The raptor banding stated off well with a Northern Raven (honorary raptor) banded at Paine Farm by Nova Mackentley on the 1^st, and an adult Bald Eagle was banded by Chris Neri on the 3^rd.  A small flight starting on the 5^th was steady until the 8^th. Mainly immature female Sharp-shinned Hawk made up the flight but a nice mix of other raptors were banded. We are typically in the bulk movement of immature female Sharp-shinned Hawk flight, but those and other raptors generally seen at this point have been slow coming. Hopes of movement are behind and not a result of poor breeding.

A total of 313 hawks were banded and are as follows: Bald Eagle-1, Northern Harrier-7, Sharp-shinned Hawk-267, Cooper’s Hawk-5, Northern Goshawk-1, Broad-winged Hawk-2, Red-tailed Hawk-2, American Kestrel-10, Merlin-16, Peregrine Falcon-2.

Adult Bald Eagle 

Hatch-year Peregrine (image by Karen Stubenvoll)

P.S. We will soon be starting owl banding and eagerly await our new owl bander, Madison (Madi) McConnell who will be coming from Alaska, where she's worked in the arctic the past two summer. She currently lives in Fairbanks and has worked on owl banding projects for Denver Holt and Scott Weidensaul. She visited the Hawk Ridge banding operation in 2012 on her way east.

Madi McConnell visiting in 2012 (image by Karen Stubenvoll)

Frank Nicoletti
Hawk Ridge Banding Director

Raptor and non-raptor count summaries September 1-7, 2014

Hello Hawk Ridge Blog readers! My name is Steve Kolbe, and I am thrilled to be the assistant counter at Hawk Ridge this season. I have enjoyed my first week a great deal and have met some of the many wonderful volunteers and visitors that spend time on the ridge each fall. I am looking forward to meeting many more in the coming months!

Male American Kestrel

The first week of September brought 1842 raptors of 13 species with a peak flight of 654 on the 6th. As expected, Sharp-shinned Hawks and Bald Eagles have dominated numbers-wise. An immature dark Swainson's Hawk that soared briefly over the ridge before heading inland on 6 September was the week's major highlight.

We suspect that the raptor flight is a tad behind schedule due to the lack of cold weather, although the last few days suggest birds are on their way in bigger numbers. In addition, upcoming weather at the end of this week should help move things along, perhaps in a big way.

Continuing the trend from August, morning songbird flights have been very good in the first week of September. In fact, three of the days in the last seven have produced counts of over 1000 individual warblers (including back-to-back large flights on 6 and 7 September)! Warbler species composition is starting to shift from being dominated by Nashville Warblers to American Redstarts. A large Cedar Waxwing flight has not materialized, which leaves us to wonder if it is yet to come. Time will tell.

Nashville Warblers. Note the short tail, gray hood, yellow belly, and pale eye ring.

American Redstart. Juveniles and adult females can look gray-hooded much like Nashville Warblers, but note the long club-shaped tail and yellow base of tail and wings, features that are visible even in poor light. The two species also have distinctly different flight calls.

Other non-raptors that moved in good numbers during the first week of September included Canada Geese and Blue Jays. A flight of 1195 Canada Gees occurred on 5 September and 1786 Blue Jays were tallied on 6 September. Two Red-headed Woodpeckers, rare in Duluth, were counted on 6 September.

One or two more flights of neotropical migrants seem likely, but each day moves us closer to non-raptor flights that consist of migrants with wintering destinations much closer to Minnesota. In addition to Blue Jays, species just starting to move this week included Pine Siskins, Red-breasted Nuthatches, Palm and Yellow-rumped Warblers.

Below are a few pictorial highlights from this week!

Red-breasted Nuthatch

Something you don't see every day: Swainson's Thrush overhead! Note the bold wing stripe, a feature shared by many thrushes (and all members of the genus Catharus), and buffy spectacles. 

An American Crow with white in the wings has been seen flying over the ridge a number of times recently "commuting" to and from Duluth. Not to be confused with...

...Pileated Woodpecker (male)! 

Northern Harrier coming this way!

Time to head up to Hawk Ridge and enjoy the fall migration! Hope to see you there soon.

Steve
Assistant Migration Counter

Connections

Here we are, ready for raptor season 2014.  We have a great crew of naturalists to help you out along the road and to teach programs.  We have our schedules set (mostly!) and we already have many private programs on the calendar.  But what are our goals for the 2014 migration season?  What are we hoping to share with our many visitors? 

One of my personal goals every year is to not be surprised by any school buses! That is a logistical challenge, one that requires organization and good record keeping. That isn’t my true goal, though.  That isn’t why I or the other naturalists went into environmental education.  We are in this field because we want to share our love of nature with others.  We want to raise people’s awareness not only of how absolutely crazy, cool raptors and all birds are, but also of how important they are in the ecosystem.  We hope people will think about what birds do for us, like eat lots of critters farther down the food chain, critters that could be problematic if their populations go unchecked.   We hope that people will think about keeping habitats intact and healthy because that is what leads to healthy populations of birds, and people for that matter.

We do great research here at Hawk Ridge, as you’ll read about in the banding and counting blog posts.  We also do great education.  Birds are excellent educators and connectors.  They connect us to our back yards whether they are urban, suburban or rural.  They connect us to food chains.  They connect us to all types of habitats from wetlands to woods to tundra, jungle, prairie, stream and lake.  They connect us to cultures and people in other parts of the world through migration.  The migrating birds that we look forward to seeing now at Hawk Ridge are the same birds that people south of us or in Central or South America look forward to having in their world all winter.  There is so much that we can learn from birds.

So, here is our 2014 crew of managers, naturalists, count interpreters, owl program teachers and songbird banders.  We are ready to connect with you and share our love of birds and nature.  We can all enjoy and learn together. 

Katie, Caitlin, Matti, Clinton, Sarah, Julia, Gail, Margie, Jessica, missing - Allie.  We look forward to your visit!

 

See you at the ridge! 

If you can't make it to the ridge, we hope you enjoy and learn from afar.

Gail

Education Director

Hawk Ridge August Banding Report 2014

It's been a busy month working on banding projects, but the work has payed off.  The stations are ready to go, nets were repaired, blinds reworked and banding equipment checked. We are catching and banding hawks and passerines.

 We completed two new projects that I've wanted to do for some time now. In late July, Josh Yokel and I installed 16 American Kestrel boxes up in the Sax-Zim Bog. We have another 10 or so to put up in early winter. This is a joint effort between Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory and Friends of Sax-Zim Bog.

Josh installing a box (image by Frank Nicoletti)

David Barber, a researcher from Hawk Mountain Sanctuary and I captured an adult Turkey Vulture and placed a wing tag and satellite transmitter. This is the first one in the Midwest to be fitted with a tag or transmitter. The data already collected has given us information on roost locations, hourly and daily movement. The bird was tested for lead and the reading came up low. We look forward to following it's migration path, winter and breeding home range. This was a joint effort between Hawk Mountain Sanctuary and Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory.

Turkey Vulture with tag and transmitter (image by Miranda Durbin)

Hawk Ridge Passerine Banding Report by David Alexander

Passerine banding at the main station in 2014 has been a welcome relief from 2013. We banded 682 passerines this August as compared to only 407 in 2013. There has definitely been an improvement in productivity of young, this year. Most species are at or better numbers than last year. So far, we seem to be down on thrushes, but the major migration time is still to come. If the weather cooperates, we should have several days of over a hundred birds banded in the next week or two.

The numbers breakdown so far for 2014:

            682 birds banded in 13 days of coverage

            30 species total

            18 species of warbler

            Most numerous bird is Nashville Warbler with 176 birds banded

            Busiest day so far was 8/26 with 116 birds banded

The most unusual bird so far was a hatch year Sora banded on 8/26. This is the first rail banded in recent history and was quite a surprise for the banding crew on Tuesday morning.  We have many returning volunteers this year, and Margie Menzies and I hope to staff at least 5 days a week through the end of September. We look forward to updating you on the exciting things happening with passerine banding at Hawk Ridge.

            -- David Alexander

Hatch-year Sora Rail (image by Miranda Durbin)

Hawk Ridge Raptor Banding Report by Frank Nicoletti

Hawk banding started on the 13th August this season with the passage of a cold front. Two Red-tailed Hawks and two Merlin were captured on that day. Unfortunately, migration afterward slowed with persistent easterly winds and days of fog and precipitation. The month ended with 47 raptors which included: Northern Harrier-4, Sharp-shinned Hawk-30, Cooper's Hawk-4, Northern Goshawk-1, Broad-winged Hawk-2, Red-tailed Hawk-3, Merlin-6 and certainly the highlight was a  Prairie Falcon banded on the 26th . It was seen by Karl Bardon and called to us at the station. It was an hatch-year female. It represents the first banded in Hawk Ridge's long banding history. 

Kaitlin Alford holding her first Sharp-shinned Hawk (image by Karen Stubenvoll)

This season we have our first traineeship program. Kaitlin Alford from the state of Virginia arrived in late August and will be with us through the fall. Along with Kaitlin, Chris Neri and Nova Mackentley are our returning raptor banders and will operate the two other stations, Moose Valley and Paine Farm.

Prairie Falcon (image by Kate Nicoletti) 

Thanks to all the volunteers who helped with set-up and at the station throughout the year!

 

Report by Frank Nicoletti, Banding Director