Help Support HMANA's Raptorthon with a fun way to donate

As HMANA’s featured hawkwatcher during our Raptorthon this year, I thought I’d try something a little different.  HMANA’s 40th anniversary conference will be April 25-27 in Rochester, New York, and that is just too exciting an opportunity to let pass. But how can I do a Raptorthon when I’ll be busy at the conference?

So here’s what I’m going to do.  I’m going to count hawks on my drive north to Rochester from my home in southern Pennsylvania on Thursday, April 24.  And, once I get to Braddock Bay, I’m going to spend three hours from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, April 26, counting with Luke Tiller, Braddock’s regular hawk counter.  Luke and I will take donations right there, and we will split the amount we gather between HMANA and Braddock Bay Raptor Research.  You can support my Raptorthon, someone else’s or start one of your own at http://www.hmana.org/raptorthon/.  To support my Raptorthon from the Raptorthon page, click on the Donate to a Raptorthon tab and choose Carolyn Hoffman.  Currently, you can also support Braddock Bay and Militia Hill’s Raptorthons at the same link.  

On the drive to Rochester, I’ll be seeing what I can identify from the car, as a way of letting people know you don’t have to sit on a hawkwatch to see hawks.  I just hope the weather cooperates.  Then on Saturday I’ll take a brief break from the conference activities to spend a little time on Braddock Bay’s platform, trying to see as many species as possible in a short amount of time.  I am also hoping that if the weather is uncooperative on one part of my Raptorthon that it will cooperate for the other part.

Would you please consider sponsoring me with a pledge to support HMANA in this our 40th anniversary year?  You can sponsor me for a fixed amount, for a specified amount by the number of hawks I see or by the number of species of hawks that I see.  The money I raise will be used to support HMANA’s regular programs and operations.

I am also planning to Tweet my way north and from atop Braddock’s platform, so you can follow along as I try to see as many hawks as I can.  I’ll be Tweeting at #hmana40 or you can follow me on Twitter at @carolynh07.  You can also come and visit while I’m at the Braddock platform if you’re coming to the conference, which I hope you will attend.  It will be fun!

It's Time for RAPTORTHON!

Spring has sprung, and it is time for another HMANA Raptorthon! Now in its third year, this fundraiser is fun and entertaining way to raise money and awareness for raptors and hawkwatching across North America. Some teams have already signed up and picked their dates for their big day. Consider forming a team of your own to support your local hawkwatch and HMANA.

This year my team, Braddock Bay Raptor Research (BBRR), will hold its Raptorthon on May 12, which falls during the latter part of the spring raptor migration. For the third spring in a row, we will attempt to count the most raptor species we can from the Braddock Bay hawkwatch, located on the southern shore of Lake Ontario. Last year BBRR earned the accomplishment of having counted the most raptor species out of all the teams that participated, and we hope to do it again! We were proud to have doubled our funds raised last year, and we were able to use the money to help build a new display board for our hawkwatch platform. This year our goal is to raise enough money to cover a sponsorship for our Hawkcount.org page, and to help cover our housing costs for our hawkwatcher.

Because the month of May is a great time to see Bald Eagles ring migration at Braddock Bay, this year’s Raptorthon event has taken on an eagle theme. BBRR will be holding several eagle related programs and activities for this “Eagle Day” including observation time with a live bald eagle named Liberty, who is an educational ambassador from the Institute for Environmental Learning in Hilton, NY. There will also be eagle crafts and activities for our younger visitors. Of course there will be hawkwatching, and there will also be a chance for people to “adopt” hawks that are banded at our raptor banding station.

There are many ways to conduct a Raptorthon, and you don’t need to be an experienced hawkwatcher or even have a favorite hawkwatch to do so. BBRR takes advantage of the fact that we conduct a spring hawk count and can utilize the beautiful Braddock Bay Park which is easily accessible to participants. Our goal is not only to raise much needed funds for our site and HMANA, but to also reach out to the community and share the enjoyment and importance of hawkwatching as a whole. A great thing about doing a Raptorthon is that you can create one to suit your needs. Visit HMANA’s website at http://hmana.org for Raptorthon ideas, or to make a pledge to support the team of your choice.

Daena Ford

Co-Director, Braddock Bay Raptor Research

Membership Secretary, Hawk Migration Association of North America

Energy is in the Air

I can’t think of anywhere I’d rather be on a crisp mid-September day than on a north-facing mountaintop in New England, enjoying the splendor of broadwing migration and looking down as the deep reds of swamp maple unfold across the landscape. Sure, I enjoy those late October days-scanning the frozen skyline for red-shoulders and goshawks but I love the energy in the air surrounding broadwing season. I love the way it brings people together, I love the anticipation, the thrill of spotting that huge kettle, and the tingle you get from watching each one soar overhead, wondering what it will experience over the next few weeks and where it will spend the winter.

And aside from what draws us out onto these cliffs and ridges - witnessing this ancient annual ritual - there is the simple pleasure of just watching that slow transition from shades of greens to rich yellows, oranges and reds. In my opinion, there is no better way to spend the autumn and feel connected to the natural world.

My name is Julie Tilden and I am the Monitoring Site Coordinator for HMANA. My position was created to allow HMANA the ability to communicate and reach out to many migration monitoring sites across North America. I started this position just one year ago and it has been a great fit for me-given my background in raptor research and conservation, love of hawkwatching and passion for birds. I also serve as Site Coordinator for the Pack Monadnock Raptor Migration Observatory here in Peterborough, NH.

I will be posting occasionally here on Hawk Migration Notes, bringing you some interesting observations related to fall raptor migration.


In this post, I want to take this opportunity to share some recent info about an event currently taking place across the continent: Raptorthon! And we want you to take part!
This is a new HMANA fundraiser and a fun way to support the hawkwatch network and help to raise the profile of hawkwatching, locally, nationally and internationally.

Anyone can participate. I invite you to take part-either on your own or as part of a team. This is an opportunity for you to help pioneer an exciting event and help raise funds to support HMANA’s raptor conservation and monitoring programs and to support your local hawkwatch.

*I’m forming a hawkwatch team here at Pack Monadnock, where we will try to count as many golden eagles as we can before November 1st (a rare and special visitor to southern New Hampshire). It’s a fun challenge and boosts our motivation when we know the funds raised will go towards raptor conservation at HMANA and our own local hawkwatch here.

How does it work? During the fall migration season, from September 1 to November 30: (1) Choose your count options: your watch site, your day or days to participate; whether you will count as an individual or organize a watch site team; and which species you will count - all species or particular “signature” species or families; (2) Register with HMANA and assign a percentage of your proceeds to a watch site or other conservation organization; (3) Find sponsors to pledge a flat rate or an amount proportional to your count; (4) Do your Raptorthon – and, as always, enjoy identifying and counting as many hawks as possible; (5) Report to your sponsors and collect your pledges; (6) Send the money to HMANA; (7) HMANA will issue receipts to sponsors and distribute the money you assigned to a watchsite or conservation organization.

If you are interested in learning more, all information and downloadable forms are available at: www.hmana.org/raptorthon

HMANA’s goal for the 2009 is to involve as many hawkwatches and hawkwatchers as possible and start to build Raptorthon into a significant national and international event. So join in the fun…there’s still time!