HMANA's 1st Annual International Hawk Migration Week

 

Share the magic of migration with someone.

 Come one, come all. We are inviting all hawk watchers and raptor enthusiasts to celebrate migration with us this fall! HMANA is excited to announce the first annual International Hawk Migration Week, taking place September 20-28, 2014.  The purpose of IHMW is to raise awareness of hawks, hawk migration and the HMANA network of sites that count hawks.

We chose this week because it is the week when peak numbers are counted across the continent. But it doesn’t matter whether your site is known for thousands of broadwings or just a few redtails. It’s not about the numbers.  Our hope is just for people to head outside and spend time hawk watching and enjoying the spectacle of migration. Here are a few suggestions of ways you can take part.....

-Submit Your Daily Data to HawkCount during this week. This should include standard data on number/species of raptors counted, number of visitors, weather etc. (Data must be submitted by September 29).

-Participate in the “IHMW Big Day”. Modeled after a Raptorthon, teams and/or individual hawk watchers gather sponsors for a day of hawk watching from a chosen hawk watch site. After the event, pledges are collected and 50% goes to HMANA programs while 50% goes to the watchsite.  See links to registration and forms online.

-Help us Reach More Hawkwatchers! Hold a HMANA Membership Drive at Your Watchsite. Set up a table or display sometime during the week in efforts to recruit new members to HMANA. HMANA will provide membership brochures. Recruit at least 5 new members and get a HawkCount sponsorship for your site!

-Host a Hawkwatching Festival. Everyone loves festivals and there are lots of ways you can celebrate migration.  You could sell t-shirts to support your site, have a volunteer available to answer questions about your site or give raptor ID instruction, offer banding station tours or work with a local wildlife rehab or education center to have a live raptor presentation.

-Hold an Identification Workshop. Late September is the perfect time to offer a raptor ID workshop and connect people with the excitement of migration. An indoor slideshow or onsite program could be a great way to engage the public. Contact us for ideas.

-Choose to Sponsor a Watchsite on HawkCount. You can choose to support HMANA’s data archive to celebrate IHMW! If you sponsor a site during the week of September 20-28, your name will appear with IHMW designation and you will receive a special gift (while supplies last). This sponsorship would expire September, 2015 like normal sponsorships. See www.hawkcount.org.

-Create an IHMW banner for your site. This is a great way to draw people to your hawkwatch site during the week. “Come celebrate HMANA’s International Hawk Migration Week with us at xxx Hawk Watch! September 20-28^th.” Be sure to send us a photo of your banner!

 

Following the week of September 20-28, we will release a report with the overall number of species and raptors counted which will show the extent of the migration occurring during that time. It should be interesting to see.

If you plan to take part, send me an email at brown@hmana.org and we’ll list your events on our webpage.  For more details on how to take part or to download a flyer, visit www.hmana.org.

We hope you will join us in celebrating the annual spectacle of fall raptor migration!