I have been to Hawk's Ridge in Duluth, but have never witnessed the hawk's migration.  I have heard that it is amazing.  If you are a bird enthusiast/watcher or nature lover, this is one event that you should attend.  We are lucky that this phenomenon happens in our backyard!

Mark it on your calendar now, the Hawk Weekend Festival takes place Friday, September 14 through Sunday, September 16, 2012. Registration is open, but space is limited!

The whole weekend is filled with activities, on Friday evening there's a social, optional dinner buffet, cash bar, coffee/desserts, auction preview, "Guess-the-Number-of-Hawks Contest", annual member meeting, awards and presentation by Anna Peterson, Ph.D. candidate in the Conservation Biology Program, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. Anna will share her research experiences on the magnificent fall bird migration along the North Shore of Lake Superior - both raptors and songbirds.

Both Saturday and Sunday will offer a variety of field trips and workshops at and away from the Ridge. Hawk watching, interpretive programs, banded raptor and passerine demonstrations, optics displays, merchandise, and refreshments will be offered at the Hawk Ridge Nature Reserve main overlook.

Saturday evening will serve as a fundraising benefit for Hawk Ridge. The event will include a social, book signing, cash bar, fabulous dinner buffet, exciting live & silent auction with wonderful packages, and a presentation by Sharon Stiteler, professional speaker, storyteller, and author. She will present a fun and entertaining talk “Today’s Office” about her career in bird watching. Sharon’s office can be in the middle of a corn field watching eagles or flying 100 feet above the Mississippi River counting ducks. Based on her popular birding blog, Birdchick.com, it will include the Horned Guan Death March (climbing 4 hours up a volcano in Guatemala to search for a rare tree chicken), trying to find a reasonable bathroom while birding in Kazakhstan or misadventures searching for an ivory-billed woodpecker with Cornell Lab of Ornithology in 2005.

All activities at the Hawk Ridge Nature Reserve are open to the public; everything else requires registration. Please note space for evening events, speakers, workshops, and field trips is limited, so be sure to register today! For more details about the Hawk Weekend festival or to find out more about the Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory, go to www.hawkridge.org.

DIRECTIONS:  The main overlook at Hawk Ridge Nature Reserve is located on East Skyline Parkway (about 1 mile after you turn off Glenwood Street). Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory welcomes the public to celebrate the fall bird migration daily in September and October.

Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory is a 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization. The mission of Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory is to protect birds of prey and other migratory birds in the Western Lake Superior Region through research, education, and stewardship. Memberships and donations are greatly appreciated.

 

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