HawkWatch to celebrate 30th anniversary during Wildlife Refuge Week

Saturday, October 11, the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife & Fish Refuge, in partnership with the Driftless Area Wetlands Centre and the Upper Iowa Audubon Society, will host HawkWatch. Previously held by Effigy Mounds National Monument, this event celebrates the fall migration of raptors and other birds along the Mississippi Flyway and National Wildlife Refuge Week.
HawkWatch activities will be held concurrently at three different area locations. Visitors should start at the Driftless Area Wetlands Centre, located at 509 Hwy. 18 in Marquette, a half-mile west of the Marquette-Joliet Bridge on Hwy. 18. Maps and a schedule of all events will be available at the Centre or online at www.fws.gov/refuge/upper_mississippi_river/.
There will be presentations, live birds, rocket netting demonstrations, and children’s activities at the Centre. Activities will begin at 8 a.m. Birding experts will be on hand to help identify raptors and other birds migrating through the area at that time. For a limited time in the afternoon participants will have the opportunity to have a photograph taken with a live golden eagle.
Other activities on the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge include banding waterfowl near the Sturgeon Slough Hiking Trail and observing raptors being live-trapped, banded, and released near the First Lutheran Church located south of Pikes Peak State Park.
Participants are responsible for their own transportation and should consult the schedule to plan which events they want to attend. Some activities will have limited capacity, such as the raptor and waterfowl banding and having a photograph taken with a golden eagle. These events will be on a first-come, first-served basis.
Contact the Refuge at 563-873-3423 with any questions. For more information on the Midwest Region of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, visit http://midwest.fws.gov.