The View from Hawk Mountain Brought to Cape Cod:
Special talk hosted by Mass Audubon to honor 10 years of local hawk watching

     South Wellfleet, MA – For the past 10 years, Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary has been conducting a hawk watch at Pilgrim Heights in North Truro during the spring months. Volunteers and staff annually spend over 300 hours in the field counting migrating raptors between the months of March to June. Recently described as the “envy” of spring hawk watches by the Hawk Migration Association of North America, the coverage at Pilgrim Heights has greatly increased our understanding of the movements of birds of prey over the Outer Cape. To celebrate this milestone and the value of studying hawk migration, the Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary is hosting a special presentation by Dr. Keith Bildstein of Hawk Mountain Sanctuary.

     On Saturday, May 3 at 7:30 p.m., Dr. Keith Bildstein, Hawk Mountain’s Sarkis Acopian Director of Conservation Science, and author of the book Migrating Raptors of the World, will present at the Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary. His talk will highlight recent findings in the field of raptor research and explain how increased knowledge of birds of prey and their migrations helps conservationists better protect these long-distance travelers.

     The past 20 years have brought important new insights into the patterns and processes of raptor migration. Newly discovered migration flyways in the Far East, a deeper appreciation of the magnitude of the raptor migration along the Mesoamerican corridor between southern Texas and northeastern Colombia, and a better understanding of both soaring and flocking behavior, together with new techniques of study including satellite telemetry, are helping scientists better understand and appreciate the long distance movements of the world’s birds of prey.

     Bildstein’ presentation will include news of recent findings on the long-distance movements of eastern North America’s Broad-winged hawks, western North America’s Swainson’s hawks and Turkey vultures, Griffon vultures migrating across the Strait of Gibraltar, Chinese sparrowhawks island-hopping across the South Pacific, and an isolated and non-migratory population of Turkey vultures on the Falkland Islands.

     Cost for the talk is $8 for Mass Audubon members and $10 for non-members. Registration is required; please call 508-349-2615.

The Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary is located on the west side of Route 6, immediately north of the Eastham/Wellfleet town line. Call (508) 349-2615 for information