2013 Hawk Weekend Festival – A Celebration of Birds

The 2013 Hawk Weekend Festival – A Celebration of Birds will include presentations and field trips. This year the event has a new venue for gatherings: Spirit Mountain Grand Avenue Chalet/Riverside Bar & Grill, 8551 Grand Avenue, Duluth. Saturday and Sunday will offer a variety of field trips and workshops at and away from Hawk Ridge Nature Reserve in Duluth.  Hawkwatching, interpretive programs, live bird demonstrations, merchandise, and refreshments will be offered at the Hawk Ridge main overlook. Friday evening includes a social, live birds, optional dinner buffet, cash bar and a presentation, “The long and short of raptor migration: recent studies of Turkey Vultures and Striated Caracaras" by Dr. Keith Bildstein. Keith is well known for his raptor research and as the Sarkis Acopian director of conservation science at Hawk Mountain Sanctuary in Kempton, Pennsylvania. Saturday evening will serve as a fundraising benefit for Hawk Ridge and include a social, live birds, cash bar, plated dinner, and a presentation, “Snowy Owls to Saw-whet Owls,” by Norman Smith, guest speaker. Norman is the director of Massachusetts Audubon’s Blue Hills Trailside Museum and Norman Smith Environmental Education Center. All activities at the Hawk Ridge Nature Reserve are open to the public, but everything else requires registration. Note space for evening events, speakers, workshops and field trips is limited, so be sure to register early. Online and mail-in registration available, or call 218-428-6209. www.hawkridge.org.