Hawk Ridge Adventure

Photo Credit: Sarah Johnson

Sometimes places are cool, without having to try.  Such is the case with Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory (HRBO)in Duluth, MN.

Hawk Ridge is an outdoor overlook space, along the northern side of Duluth’s Lake Superior shoreline.  The views of the woods and Lake Superior are outstanding, and the birds fascinating.  Every year, thousands of birds concentrate in this spot during the fall migration, and thousands of people gather to view the action.  The banding, counting, and education that happen are due to the efforts of the non-profit HRBO, along with the Town and other NP partners.

Photo Credit: John Aldridge

The big, visible birds migrating through are hawks, vultures, eagle, osprey and harriers.  The HRBO crew count the birds, and band as many as they can.  The data gathered is sent to a centralized database, allowing monitoring figures to be used by professionals such as wildlife researchers and forest habitat managers.  So, not only is this place cool, but it’s valuable for future habitat management and can be an indicator of when something is going wrong, or right, in our natural world.

Photo Credit: John Aldridge

This past October weekend, the Discovery Center led a field trip to Hawk Ridge.  In September, you’ll see a greater number of smaller birds.  These birds – Broad-winged Hawks, Merlins, Kestrels, and Sharp-shinned Hawks – need to migrate earlier.  They have longer to go (Broad-winged Hawks fly to South America), and their food sources (snakes, frogs, dragonflies) are often warm-temperature dependent.

In October, the Ridge sees greater numbers of Bald and Golden Eagles, Red-tailed and Rough-legged Hawks, Turkey Vultures and Northern Goshawks.  During our visit, we were fortunate to see most of these species, and in good numbers.  The final counts for some of the key species were:

Turkey Vultures	Bald Eagles	Red-tailed Hawks	Northern Goshawk	Sharp-shinned Hawks	Northern Harriers
45	111	355	13	351	8

We did see some other species, too – bringing the total birds counted to 896, a great count for a mid-October day.  

One other really fascinating thing to witness is the post-banding release of these magnificent birds.

Photo Credit: John Aldridge

 HRBO has 3 banding stations where certified banders lure birds in.  Our group participated in a behind-the-scenes tour to see how this process is carried out (think pigeons, bow traps and mist nests).  Once the birds are caught, data gathered, and bands placed, they are then transported to the overlook.  The birds are handled by volunteers and staff, and information about the species is shared with the audience.  All the while, staff and volunteers encourage HRBO’s “Adopt A Raptor” program.  For a donation, people can “adopt” a banded bird.  What this means is that if the bird is found anywhere, you receive follow-up info on that bird.  What it really means is that you get to handle & release your adopted bird back to the wild.  I was the lucky adopter of an immature Red-tailed Hawk, and got to toss this bird up with everyone cheering the bird’s release and the re-start of its migration journey.