HAWK RIDGE

Its fall! 

I love love love fall! 

The cooler weather, scarfs, hoodies, fleece and warm drinks. 

Oh and its MIGRATION season!!! 

Katie, Frank and I at the top of the ridge

Here in Minnesota we have Hawk Ridge, which happens to be one of the best migration spots for watching raptors right in the city of Duluth. This past week I was lucky enough to head up to the ridge and watch some birds. Katie and I also were able to catch up with some friends! Of course, on our way home, we swung into the Audubon Center so I could see some folks and critters. What a fantastic way to spend a couple days off.

Katie and I holding hatch year sharp-shinned hawks after they were banded

I adopted a Merlin!!! I was able to release this beautiful bird after it was banded

Saying Hi to Spike!

Hawk Ridge

Yesterday we got to go up to Hawk Ridge. This was my third year going up there - it is one of the top raptor migration spots in North America and if you hit on the right day you can see thousands and thousands of raptors. Keeping with the bad weather theme this week, the conditions were less than ideal yesterday. It was cold and rainy but we did manage to see a couple birds.

All 3 species of accipter - Goshawk, coopers and sharp-shinned

The view from the ridge

 Despite the weather, we saw a fair number of species. My favorite was Merlin that came in and dive bombed a plastic owl. We also saw: goshwak, broad winged hawks, sharp-shinned hawks, coopers hawks, osprey, merlin, and american kestrels. Not too shabby. I even got to release a sharp-shinned!

After the ridge, we headed over to Delilah's house. She is currently living at the house of a wildlife rehabber and should be moving to the Audubon Center in the next couple weeks to start her life as an education animal.

Delilah having a snack

Yep, this is my job. What a great way to spend a work day!! :)

Hawk Ridge

Overlooking Lake Superior first thing in the morning

As the weather starts to change, migration starts. Here in Minnesota is one of the top raptor migration sites in North America - Hawk Ridge (hawkridge.org). Due to several factors, thousands of raptors pass over this ridge on the way south due each year. The first factor is the numerous thermals that are formed on a nice sunny day. This allows the raptors to soar and glide south rather than flap the whole way. The second factor is Lake Superior. Birds of prey generally won't fly over large bodies of water. These, along with a few other factors, funnel a large number of birds from Canada over this single ridge.

First year Sharp-shinned Hawk

The key to Hawk Ridge is weather. If the weather is rainy, you might as well stay home since the birds are not going to be moving. On nice sunny days, you get a respectable number of birds migrating though. The best weather for raptor migration is the first sunny day following a couple rainy days. On those days, you can see tens of thousands.

Broad-winged Hawk

Today was a good day to be at hawk ridge. After a few showers early in the morning, the clouds started to break up and thermals started to form. We started our raptor watch with a tour of the banding station. While we were there, they caught and banded 3 Sharp-shinned Hawks. Others, narrowly escaped the net. It was a treat to see all the action. Many of the birds they band are first years. They are still figuring out how to hunt and therefore tend to be a bit hungry. Because of this, they are more likely to be attracted to the lure used to bring them down to the net.

When we returned to the top of the ridge, the action in the sky was just getting underway. In the hour and a half or so that we were there we probably saw several hundred raptors. Our species included: American Kestrel, Broad-winged Hawk, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Bald Eagle, Red-tailed Hawk and a Turkey Vulture.

Not a bad morning!

Flashlight Party!

On Monday evening, I went out on an owl survey with a bunch of the other interns. This survey is part of ongoing owl monitoring in Minnesota and Wisconsin through Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory. (http://www.hawkridge.org/research/springowl.html)


Each person or group that volunteers is given a route. They are then responsible to go out in early april to conduct the survey. The route is 10 miles long with volunteers stopping every mile and documenting which species were heard in a 5 minute time period.

At the end of the evening, my group didn't hear any owls. We did have a run in with a home owner, who upon seeing us, asked if we were out having a flashlight party. We also got to hear numerous fun frog calls including the spring peeper, wood frog and cricket frogs.

GIRLS BIG NIGHT OUT

Last night, me and several of the other interns (Amy, Emily and Manu) made a road trip up to Duluth, MN. Hawk Ridge was having an owl program at night so we decided to make an evening of it. First we went to Pizza Luce - a really good pizza place in downtown Duluth. I tried brushcetta and a pizza with a different type of sauce. Surprisingly, both were good!

Following dinner, the four of us headed up to Hawk Ridge in hopes of seeing an owl. The program was good and we all learned a thing or two to add to our bird programs. We stayed out in the frosty night air for an hour and a half waiting for word that an owl had been caught down at the bird banding station. Many jumping jacks later (and little feeling left in my toes) we decided to call it a night. The fact that no owls were caught is unusual for this time of year because normally there are numerous saw-whet moving south.

After the long evening, we returned to the Audubon Center. Turns out we were not the only ones freezing because all of the water was removed from the raptor enclosures to prevent frostbite. Also, the Kestrels spent their first night of the season in their winter enclosures. More signs that the seasons are changing!