2015 Hawk Ridge Birdathon Summary

What a great day for the 29

th annual Hawk Ridge Birdathon in St. Louis County! Eleven teams

participated in several different categories in this friendly competition throughout the 24-hour

period on Saturday May 16th

. We truly thank those that participated and pledged for the research

and education programs of Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory!

Team “Sitting Ducks” (Jessica

Chatterton, Steve Bockhold, &

Annmarie Geniusz) won the Big Sit

category counting 41 species (including

the only Indigo Bunting!) at a beautiful

woodsy cabin spot in Park Point. The

“Sitting Ducks” enjoyed coffee,

doughnuts, & later mimosas with front-

row seats to the Duluth Warbler

Symphony. 17 species of warblers

provided an entertaining musical chorus

and colorful performance! It was a

glorious show to hopefully be repeated

in 2016!

Team Sitting Ducks – photo by Karen Stubenvoll

(Jessica Chatterton, Annmarie Geniusz, Steve Bockhold)

Team “Whip-Poor-Wheels” (Steve

Wilson, Mary Shedd, Sierra & Pam

Wettering, Norma Malinowski, &

Steve Schon) took the gold again in

the Township category! The Whips

beat their previous year’s record by 3

species counting a total of 86 species

in Breitung township, including the

only Swainson’s Thrush! This team

also competed non-motorized by

hiking 11 miles and biking 15 miles!

One team highlight included running

into a random person on the trail that

unknowingly lured in a variety of

birds for the team by playing Black

Sabbath music. We can probably let

that slide for the “avoiding the use of

playback” rule. ☺ Team Whip-Poor-Wheels – photo courtesy Steve Wilson

(Norma Malinowski, Steve Schon, Sierra Wettering, Pam Wettering, Mary

Shedd, Steve Wilson)

Team “STC” (Ted Keyel competing to Support

The Cause) competed in the Photography

category capturing photographs of the 17 out of

108 species he counted. Ted also noted

amphibians: Spring Peepers, Wood Frog,

Northern Leopard Frogs & Chorus Frogs, as

well as some mammals: Red Fox, Snowshoe

Hare (4 on road at once), Porcupine, and

Chipmunk sp. Highlights included great views

of Solitary Sandpiper and two American

Bitterns on the road, which were well deserved

after getting stuck in a ditch in the bog.

Although, for birders, being stuck in a ditch in

the bog might not be such a disappointing

scenario.

Several people continued their tradition in competing in the Non-motorized category beginning

with a Friday night camp out and paddling on the Big Day. Team “Riparian Riders” (Tim Bates

& Andrew Webster) tallied up an amazing 107 species for the win! Highlights were their wake

up call by the Barred Owl at 3 a.m. and being led to safety by the American White Pelican coast

guard as they battled strong wind, waves, and taking in some water. They also helped pick up a

few species that seem to have eluded other teams not birding by boat: Rough-legged Hawk,

Whimbrel, Ruddy Turnstone, Semipalmated Plover, & American Coot. Team “Wood Winged

River Skimmers” (Bryan French & Pat Kohlin) also canoed in some treacherous conditions

going from Chamber’s Grove to Grassy Point, but still managed to count 66 species. Highlights

included two memorable finds: the Red-necked Grebe, as a fun identification challenge & a well-

camouflaged American Bittern. Lastly, doing a non-motorized birdathon is a wonderful way to

really get to know a place.

Six teams competed in the traditional St. Louis County

“Big Day” category. Team “Dixie Chickadees” (Karen

Stubenvoll, Janelle Long, & Susan Streitz) had a great

time birding at Park Point for a total of 76 species. The

“Chickadees” hung out with the “Ducks” for part of the

morning and also enjoyed the Duluth Warbler

Symphony. It was also nice to see so many happy,

satisfied birders along Park Point. Highlights from their

day included the Black-throated Blue Warbler and

close-up views of many other warbler species. Team

“Next Year Ben Will Be Back” (David Alexander &

Pam Lincoln) also had a wonderful day birding, even

though they missed having Ben Yokel along. Thanks to

David for ensuring Alder Flycatcher was added to this

year’s list! Team “Lekless” (Cindy & Chris

Edwardson, Barb Akre, & Jane Wattrus) are gaining

Chestnut-sided Warbler – photo by Ted Keyel

Team Dixie Chickadees – photo by Steve Bockhold

(Susan Streitz, Janelle Long, Karen Stubenvoll)

momentum in the competition, as they increase their Big Day total each year! This year they

added 9 more species for a total of 112. Highlight was seeing a Great Gray Owl at eye level in

the fog! Team “Bodacious Bog Brothers” (Dave Benson, Ben Yokel, Sparky Stensaas, & Dave

Steininger) took third place with 128 species. Many warbler highlights throughout the day, as

well as species in the Sax-Zim Bog, including Yellow-throated Vireo.

The top two teams came to a close finish once again (and with total species being 20-30 higher

vs. 2014)! Team “Funner Than Scrapbooking” (Jim Hughes & Tom Nelson) took second place

in tallying up a whopping 146 species! Highlight included watching a fierce air show of a Merlin

attacking a Cooper’s Hawk at Park Point. They also added Red-headed Woodpecker (12th

record

for this Birdathon) to the overall list and won the Waterfowl subcategory with 19 species! Even

though they had to pass on the traveling owl trophy to a NEW winning team, they still agree that

this birdathon was “Funner Than Scrapbooking”! ☺

And last, but not least, team “White

Bearded Magpie Jays” (John Ellis,

Alex Ellis, Jesse Ellis, & Lars

Benson) took the win with a grand

total of 152 species! Highlights

included finding a Lark Sparrow

(3rd

record for this Birdathon!)

during a bathroom break. Also,

watching Red-winged Blackbirds

alert them to a Merlin flying over,

which a Barred Owl apparently

wanted to trump by flying over

shortly after. Congrats “White

Bearded Magpie Jays” on your Big

Day win!

In all, a grand total of 185 species were counted on May 16, 2015. This was a few species

below the 28-year average of 189 species, but close! Evening Grosbeak was missed for a second

time in the 29 years of the Hawk Ridge Birdathon and Green Heron, Great Crested Flycatcher,

and Cedar Waxwing missed for a third. The St. Louis County Birdathon 29-year grand total is

266 species. 218 species was the highest total count in 1996 and 164 was the lowest count in

2011. The 1996 winning team (Terry Brashear, Mike Hendrickson, Mark Ochs, & Kim Risen)

still holds the Big Day record with 177 species.

Highlights: Lark Sparrow (3rd

year seen), Rough-legged Hawk, Red-bellied Woodpecker, &

Yellow-throated Vireo (10th

year seen), Black-throated Blue Warbler (11th

year seen), and

Canvasback, Surf Scoter, Ruddy Duck, Northern Goshawk, Red-headed Woodpecker, and

Vesper Sparrow (12th

year seen). A total of 25 species of warblers were seen!

Winning Team – White Bearded Magpie Jays – photo by Karen Stubenvoll

(Jesse Ellis, Alex Ellis, John Ellis, & Lars Benson)

A big THANKS goes out to the prize donors. Thank you to Eagle Optics, Kollath-Stensaas

Publishing/Stone Ridge Press, and Lake Superior Garden Center for the wonderful prize

donations. The winning prize (Eagle Optics Ranger 10x32 Binoculars) for the Most $$ Raised

category is still to be awarded to the person that raised the most money, so get your pledges in!

A special thank you to the following: Dave Benson for serving as the compilation emcee, Molly

Thompson for web maintenance, and everyone who attended and made delicious dishes to share

at the potluck! I also really appreciated the clean up help after the brunch. Thank you and

congratulations again to all that participated and helped make this event possible!

P.S. A friendly reminder to please get your registration fee and/or pledges in! This can be

done online at http://www.hawkridge.org/events/birdathon/. Donors can pledge online and

add a note to their payment or send an email to birdathon@hawkridge.org with what

team/participant the pledge should be applied to. Alternatively, fee/pledges can be mailed to:

Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory, P.O. Box 3006, Duluth, MN 55803. Checks should be made

payable to the Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory, with a note on who fee/pledge should be applied

to. Pledges should be received no later than June 30th

, 2015.

P.P.S. Be sure to SAVE THE DATE of Saturday, May 21st, 2016 for the 30

th Annual Hawk

Ridge St. Louis County Birdathon with celebration to follow on Sunday!