Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory

Today my Master Naturalist class went on a field trip to the Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory and Hartley Nature Center, both in Duluth, Minnesota. I left the house about 6:40 a.m. and returned about 6:45 p.m. I carpooled with another student. It's been a long day but a good day. This was my second trip to Hawk Ridge. I was nervous about the weather because it's been so cold out but we were lucky. The temperature was in the 40's but the sun was shining and the wind on the ridge was mild. I even have a little sunburn from looking up into the sky so much. My neck is a little sore too. Let me see if I can remember all the raptors we saw: osprey, bald eagles, golden eagles, coopers Hawk (see photo), Sharp shinned hawk, red tailed hawk, kestrel, Merlin, goshawk, and turkey vultures. The birds get into these air formations called kettles which as basically an elevator going up. They circle up and up until they get high enough to get off the elevator and fly south. Some hawks are trapped in nets with a lure (what looks like an injured song bird). Those hawks are banded and released. If you pay enough money, you can release the raptor yourself, have your photo taken as it is released, and get a postcard in the mail if that hawk is ever banded again. A coopers hawk that was released today costs $30. We saw a red tailed hawk released and a sharp shinned hawk. We had a short class on how to identify raptors. They say the trick is to learn the classifications first. Hawk classifications included accipiters, buteos, falcons, eagles, harriers, osprey and vultures. Another way to learn the raptors is to volunteer at Hawk Ridge for 24 hours (minimum commitment). After 24 hours, you basically learn how to identify all the daytime raptors. We had another class on raptors and spirituality which was very interesting and covered Greek mythology, Genghis Khan, Egyptian pyramids, Winnie the Pooh (the wise old owl), and Native Americans. Owls are supposed to be wise and associated with death. Owls can be harbingers of death or can lead the dead to the afterlife. Our classes were constantly interrupted by raptors flying overhead. One kettle I saw had almost 2 dozen raptors flying in it at the same time. We stayed at Hawk Ridge for about 4 hours. Then we walked around the Hartley Nature Center where we saw an otter playing in a lake, looked at a beaver dam, searched for and found evidence of beavers, and walked in a deep pine forest. We had a good day in Duluth. The trees along 169 and Hwy. 23 were in peak formation.