I just got back from 3 days at Hawk Ridge in Duluth, MN for the annual hawk migration.
This is always a fun trip - a chance to see a lot of different hawks, talk to people from all over the place and try to get some nice photos, which is challenging to say the least. I’ve always looked at the reported hawk counts and thought “wow, what a great chance to get nice photos”. But having gone for several years to Hawk Ridge and several other hawk sites around the country, you quickly learn how difficult it is. Many of the raptors are either far out in the distance, high up on the thermals, flying by quickly with little warning, or facing into the sun. So you do your best, take a bunch of photos and hope for the best. I’m usually disappointed at the quality. But the 3 days are lots of fun and I highly recommend a trip sometime.
Although they reported 6,000 Broad-winged Hawks in Sept 19th, which may have been some seen recently at Eagle Bluffs, they still haven’t reported their big typical push of >15,000. So keep your eyes out for more!
The first morning was very foggy, so I went to the nearby Canal Point Park. There were lots of warblers and migrants, and a very cooperative Merlin, which was very special.
I also attended an Owl Banding session one night from 7:30-9:00pm. They caught, banded and released an Eastern Whip-poor-will (which was a special and unique treat for them) and 5-6 Northern Saw-whet Owls. It was pretty cool to watch them handle, band, sample and release these little beauties. The banders are highly trained in their craft! They said some of their banded Saw-whet Owls get recaught by our own Missouri River Bird Observatory.
On the way back home, I stopped at Crex Meadows Wildlife Area near Grantsburg, WI. It’s about a 7 hr drive from Kirksville. It’s a very large, beautiful area and worth a visit. It’s a major staging area for > 10,000 Sandhill Cranes in October and lots of ducks. This time of year there were quite a few Sandhill Cranes and Trumpeter Swans. I never get tired of either of them!
Photos from the trip can be viewed at:
flickr.com/photos/dgetman/sets
Besides the raptor photos, the photos of the Whip-poor-will and Saw-Whet Owl are pretty special.
Dan Getman, Kirksville, northeast MO
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