HMANA's Spring Raptorthon

 

       First prize: “Arctic Portrait – White Gyrfalcon”, a ROBERT BATEMAN Print

It’s Spring and raptors are on the move! That must mean it's time for HMANA's Raptorthon! If you haven’t participated in this event before, I suggest you join the fun. From March 1-May 31, you simply choose a day and decide where you’d like to count; your local watch site, your backyard, or tour around anywhere to find as many species as you can. Choose to count by yourself, with friends, or as part of a team. Find as many raptor species as possible during that day (or include ALL bird species if you wish). Then you register with HMANA, assign a percentage of your proceeds to a watch site or other conservation organization and let your friends or colleagues know you are raising money for a great cause!

Did I mention that you get a free Raptorthon t-shirt for you and your teammates when you register?
People who sponsor you can either give you a flat donation or agree to a certain amount per raptor species. We even have a great letter to download from our website to help find sponsors.

After that, the only thing left to do is go out and enjoy a day of birding or hawk watching! When you’re all done, report to your sponsors, collect your pledges, send to HMANA and we’ll issue a check to your hawkwatch or conservation organization.

PRIZES! New this year!
Each participant who registers and raises at least $25 will be entered for one chance in the draw. Participants who raise at least $100 will receive an additional chance for each $100 raised (e.g. If you raised $100, you will get 2 chances; if you raised $500 you will get 6 chances.

Please visit www.hmana.org/raptorthon to see prizes, download forms and learn more on taking part. While you're there, you can support other teams by clicking on "Sponsor a Participant".

Thanks and Happy raptorthoning!

Spring Hawk Migration Studies coming soon to a mailbox near you!

The spring issue of Hawk Migration Studies will soon be mailed, and to whet your appetite, here’s a bit about what you can look forward to in the new issue.


First off, we’ll have an extensive article from Nick Bolgiano about changes in Red-tailed Hawk wintering patterns. Nick used HawkCount data going back into the ‘70’s to show the changes.

HMANA is planning a couple of new tours within the next year, including a fall hawkwatching tour to several of the east’s biggest fall sites, including Waggoner’s Gap, Hawk Mountain and Cape May. Also on the horizon is a tour to the Dry Tortugas in February 2014.

If you weren’t able to attend HMANA’s conference in Greenwich, Connecticut, this past October, Julie Brown recaps all the action.

What are the odds any of us will get a chance to visit Cuba and see hawk migration there? Not very good, unfortunately. So we have the next best thing with an article about raptor monitoring in Cuba.

Laurie Goodrich updates HMANA’s data scanning project. Many of those old pre-electronic “green sheets” are finally being entered into the HawkCount database.

Daena Ford reports on the recent HMANA survey that many of you participated in.

And, of course, there’s plenty more and lots of great photos, too! Keep an eye on your mailbox. The spring issue will be arriving soon!