I'm finally re-visiting Duluth and Hawk Ridge. These birds are captured, but they don't end up on the Thanksgiving table. They are banded and released. Their goose is not cooked!
A volunteer showcases a blue jay's feathers. This is an exciting (I'm joking. Most people don't like Jays) part of the Hawk Weekend Festival September 14-16. www.hawkridge.org It celebrates the Fall migration of birds with bird adoptions, among other events. In short, Hawk ridge is such a great spot for banding because the birds don't want to fly over Lake Superior as they migrate. I don't blame them one bit. And for a small fee you can hold and release a captured bird. Jays are free. Just kidding.
A young Flicker. We see these woodpeckers on the ground in the Fall.
An alert Kestrel. 
Wasn't it fun to see their feathers from all sides? A brief demo and off they go. Where migration will take them no one knows.
If you haven't checked out my giveaway either scroll down or click here I'm giving away 2 signed copies (including musical cd's) of my first illustrated book. It would make a great Christmas gift!
9 comments:
Beautiful pictures! And to have the bird in your hand, feeling its little heartbeat... I did that once a few years back during a hawk banding. Amazing! :-)
Why don't people like blue jays? I love the yellow wings of the woodpecker - so pretty!
So beautiful photos!
So beautiful. I'd love to see them up close like that!
The hawk is small. A male coopers or sharp shinned hawk is about this size or maybe a bit larger. They land on my board fence. The boards are exactly 8 inches wide and a female is that wide but a male is closer to 5 or 6 inches wide. I saw the kestrel and it reminded me of that. Nice shots all.
My world of birds has been turned upside down this summer or past summer. It was so hot and dry here that birds never came or went somewhere else. I only had a handful of sparrows over the summer. In the early spring I had starlings and grackles until their young fledged and then they left.
I see you are still writing books. Some of my friends, also write. Pat McCarty does write a lot of children's historical books.
I met her when she took a writing class from me when I was still teaching.
Here is a link to her page on Amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com/Pat-McCarthy/e/B001HD333A/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_1
Thanks for stopping and visiting.
so very cool! love the flicker.
I like blue jays. Yes, they're bossy, but I think they're pretty blueness makes up for their noisy call. I get flicker feathers in my yard, but never knew what bird left them. I'm glad to know. Beautiful photos :)
Beautiful, Sharon!
Beautiful birds! I love the pretty patterns on the feather.
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