Due to current health concerns, we have cancelled our beloved in-person Birds of Prey Festival event at Lone Pine on Sept 18 but we have lined up a series of exciting in person and virtual Birds of Prey events.

ID Live Raptors up close with Wild Wings

Flathead Audubon and Wild Wings Raptor Recovery Center are sponsoring two workshops  on Saturday, Sept 11 at 1pm, or Tuesday, Sept. 14 at11am at the Center.

Join veteran Hawk Watch and Wild Wings volunteers for exciting close views and lively discussions of raptors and their identifying characteristics. This will help with identifying migrating raptors at Jewel Basin Hawk Watch or enhance any birding experience.

The volunteers will be assisted by the Wild Wings educational birds of prey, of which 10 represent raptor species migrating through Hawk Watch site and/or call the valley home. This includes a Cooper’s Hawk, three Falcon species, three very different Red-tailed Hawks, a Ferruginous Hawk, as well as others. You must sign up to attend these workshops, Limited to 20 participants each. Covid-19 guidelines apply. Parking is limited.

To sign up contact Kathy at 406-607-9803. Bringing your own chair is suggested but we do have bleachers. Also a free gift to each participant-Start or add to your native habitat for birds with free native plant seedlings.

Raptor Identification Workshop at Lone Pine

On Friday evening, September 17th, at 6:30 PM, at Lone Pine State Park outdoor pavilion, socially distanced and masks strongly encouraged, our Conservation Educator, Denny Olson, will conduct a FREE training workshop on recognizing our fall migrant birds of prey the way you usually see them — in the air, and from below. Denny has developed full-sized laminated silhouettes of 27 different flying birds of prey that will teach you about what to look for — shape, flying patterns, shades of dark and light, and color. To register, contact educator@flatheadaudubon.org  or call 249-3987.

Jewel Basin Hawk Watch Field Trip

If you want more practice, visit our Jewel Basin Hawk Watch site on the North Mt, Aeneas ridge, where we count thousands of migrating hawks, falcons and eagles every fall! (Dan Casey is leading a field trip there on September 19th.) This is a place where migrating hawks fly by close and personally. Everyone attending the workshop will receive a “key” to narrow your sighting to the exact bird you observe. If you wish, you can take a quiz after some practice and win some cool bird-related prizes. “

Montana Audubon Advanced Raptor Identification Workshop

Learning how to identify raptors takes time, so this year Montana Audubon’s Director of Policy & Science, Amy Seaman, will dive into the details with an advanced ID course. This course will help you pick up details you never saw before and learn more about the Buteo color morphs and raptor flight styles. They’ll cover a little about Montana’s soaring raptors or Buteos as well as Accipiters (forest hawks common at Jewel Basin Hawk Watch) and their allies, and our large eagles and vultures.

Head over to Montana Audubon’s site to learn more about the workshop and how you can register and attend at: https://mtaudubon.org/2021/09/virtual-advanced-raptor-identification-workshop/