Staff
Janelle Long, Executive Director
Janelle Long began her career as the Executive Director at Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory in August 2007. She received her M.Ed. in Environmental Education at the University of Minnesota Duluth and a B.S. in Wildlife Management and Biology at the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point. Her interest in ornithology and conservation biology began by assisting several Ph.D. students with their field research studying neotropical migrants and grassland birds. She continued to share her passion for birds in the field of environmental education working at several Audubon Centers and for the Bureau of Land Management’s Yaquina Head Oustanding Natural Area in OR. She enjoys bridging the bird conservation research, education, and stewardship components through her career with Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory. Janelle resides in Duluth, MN with her husband and 3 children.
jlong@hawkridge.org
218-428-6209
Margie Menzies, Education Director
One-part educator, two parts naturalist, and two parts bird nerd! After years in the formal classroom, this educator has abandoned the indoors for the great outdoor classroom. Margie joined the Hawk Ridge staff as a Naturalist in 2011 and is now the full-time Education Director for Hawk Ridge. She loves birds and sharing the natural world with people of all ages. She also helps lead the passerine (songbird) banding at Hawk Ridge during fall migration and with three MAPS stations studying summer breeding birds at Hawk Ridge, Wolf Ridge, and Sugarloaf Cove. She has a BA in Biology from Bethel University, and a MA in Education from University of St. Thomas.
mmenzies@hawkridge.org
218-428-8722
Emily Pavlovic, Research Director
Emily grew up in Northwest Indiana and earned a B.A. in Biochemistry from Earlham College. After her undergraduate, she taught environmental education at various nature centers across the country for about five years. While working for the Audubon Society her love for birds and specifically raptors grew. Emily completed an M.S. in Integrated Biosciences at UMD in 2022. She conducted her thesis research at Hawk Ridge which was focused on determining natal origins and migratory patterns of raptors using stable isotope analysis. Since graduating in 2022, she has remained a research volunteer at Hawk Ridge. She loves spending time at Hawk Ridge and is excited to continue developing the research program in a more formal position! Emily lives with her husband, Sean, daughter, Hazel, and their bluetick coonhound, Ezra. They enjoy doing various activities in nature, curling, cooking (and eating), and learning new skills! Emily is really grateful for all of the support from the HRBO Crew!
epavlovic@hawkridge.org
218-428-1479
Frank Nicoletti, Senior Research Associate
Frank Nicoletti grew up in New York State along the Hudson River where he started watching raptors at the age of 11. His passion for raptors and other birds fueled him to work at various locations including Cape May and Sandy Hook NJ, Braddock Bay NY and in Israel. From 1984 until 1996 he traveled throughout the country and conducted various raptor related projects which included nesting surveys, tracking winter raptors and migration work. He arrived in Duluth in 1991 to count raptors and to witness the invasion of the Northern Goshawk and he conducted the count at Hawk Ridge until 2005. After moving to Duluth permanently in the fall of 1996, he conducted the first spring count of raptors migrating north in Minnesota along the West Skyline Parkway of Duluth. Frank continues to study raptors and has been concentrating on boreal forest owls and managing raptor banding sites. He has published a number of papers on birds and has helped with many authors working on books and articles. Frank joined the Hawk Ridge staff in 2011 as the Banding Director and is now the Senior Research Associate to help lead research projects, as well as raptor banding and bird migration count research. He lives just north of Duluth with his wife, Kate, and their well-loved dogs.
fnicoletti@hawkridge.org
Valerie Slocum, Volunteer Coordinator
Valerie grew up in Battle Creek, MI (aka the cereal capital of the world) with a love of the outdoors and the living world. She received her B.A.A. in Earth Science and Outdoor and Environmental Recreation from Central Michigan University. Valerie has spend the majority of her career both teaching educational programs as well as working with educational raptors at facilities such as Kalamazoo Nature Center, Eagle Bluff Environmental Learning Center, the Lake Superior Zoo, where she also served as the Volunteer Manager, and currently at Wildwoods Wildlife Rehabilitation. Volunteering has always played a big role in her life and began holding regular volunteer jobs when she was 15. She believes that volunteering is one of the most fulfilling activities that people can participate in. Valerie began volunteering with Hawk Ridge in 2013 and is very excited to work with all of the amazing volunteers this year! Her favorite bird is the Turkey Vulture, and if there’s anything you want to know, please ask her because she loves to tell anyone she can about these amazing creatures!
Fall 2026 Team
We welcome our 2026 team, which includes seasonal employees, apprentices, trainees, interns, and some volunteers.
Lily (she/her), Trainee
Lily is from Long Island, New York, and recently graduated in 2026 from Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs with a degree in Biology and Spanish. She is passionate about travel, and spent time in undergrad living in Madrid and New Zealand. After helping to found an Audubon Chapter at Skidmore, Lily spent two years as President, growing her passion for outreach and education. She has had a number of environmental positions, including being a Shorebird Steward, an Audubon educator, and a trout hatchery worker. Before moving to Minnesota, Lily is spending the summer oyster farming in midcoast Maine. Other than birding, Lily loves her dogs, backpacking, biking, cars, and going to the movies. She hopes to develop her skills this fall, and continue pursuing ornithology!
David Alexander, Volunteer Bander
David Alexander grew up living all over the world, and after finishing his medical training in Dallas, Madison, and Tucson finally decided it was time to settle down. Through some luck, he and his wife Christina landed in Duluth, MN of all places. David has been a passionate birder over the years and still manages to get overseas for a few nature trips a year. Starting in the Fall of 1995, he has been an annual visitor and later a volunteer at Hawk Ridge.
David served on the board of Hawk Ridge Nature Reserve in the early years and then returned on the board in 2010 for 10 years with Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory. David works full-time as a radiologist for Essentia Health in Duluth. In his time off, he spends long days at Hawk Ridge in the fall helping to lead the Hawk Ridge Passerine Banding Project, as well as one of the assistant Raptor Banders. In conjunction with Margie Menzies, he helps direct the summer MAPS breeding bird banding study.
Tim Baerwald, Lead Bander
Tim is from Michigan and has spent an extensive amount of time doing working on raptor related projects across the country, but always finds his way back to the shores of Lake Superior. He is excited to return to be part of the Hawk Ridge team this fall and is looking forward to whatever the winds may bring.
Erik Bruhnke, Volunteer Count Interpreter/Counter
Erik Bruhnke has loved birds since he was a child looking at chickadees. While still a student at Northland College, he taught field ornithology for three semesters, graduating in 2008 with a Natural Resources degree. After graduation his springs and summers were spent conducting bird surveys through northern forests, vast prairies, and western mountains. He worked as an interpreter for six fall seasons at Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory in Duluth, Minnesota; counted migrating raptors at the Corpus Christi HawkWatch in Texas in 2015; and was the 2016, 2017, and 2018 hawk counter at the Cape May Hawkwatch in New Jersey. In the fall of 2020, he educated visitors about bird migration at the Cape May Hawkwatch as a season-long interpreter. Throughout the previous two fall seasons he has assisted counting bird migration and interpreting the movements of birds to visitors at Hawk Ridge, and is thrilled to be back for another exciting fall season! Erik’s wildlife photography has won national awards, and he’s written for the American Birding Association’s Birder’s Guide, BirdWatching magazine, and Bird Watcher’s Digest. Erik is a full-time birding tour guide for Victor Emanuel Nature Tours (VENT) and also runs his own business, Naturally Avian. Outside of frequent birding he enjoys hiking, camping, dips in Lake Superior, and being out in the snow. Bird migration makes him happy. In his free time he loves to cook and bake, often following recipes from his Omas and Opas.
Miranda Durbin, Volunteer Bander
Miranda Durbin has lived in Duluth most of her life, growing up right below Hawk Ridge. She got her BS in Fisheries and Wildlife, with a specialization in Wildlife at the University of Minnesota. Her love of birds didn’t begin in earnest until an ornithology class and an internship at the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in Roseville helping in the avian nursery. After some traveling and time away from Duluth, she moved back in 2011 and began volunteering at Hawk Ridge during the 2012 fall season. This will be her 14th year helping as one of the Banders at Hawk Ridge!
Holly Erickson, Owl Bander
Holly graduated from The Ohio State University and the OSU Ornithology Club in December, 2025, with a B.S. in Environment and Natural Resources (Forestry, Fisheries, and Wildlife Sciences). This year, she has sampled passerines and mosquitoes for West Nile Virus and Avian Influenza in central Ohio, monitored Golden-cheeked Warblers in Texas, and just finished a season of summer owl banding with Whitefish Point in Michigan. This is her third season of owl banding and first at Hawk Ridge. Holly is passionate about educating the public, encouraging excitement about birds, and teaching field methods; she is looking forward to a season focused on both banding and outreach. After spending two years of her childhood near the Twin Cities, she is thrilled to be back to her favorite part of Minnesota—the Lake Superior coast—to spend time with one of her favorite groups of birds—owls. Outside of banding and the field, she can be found birding, playing instruments, drawing, rollerblading, and hiking. She cannot wait to enjoy fall migration at the Ridge!
Jackie Golden, Trainee
Jackie grew up in Yorktown, Virginia, and graduated from the College of William & Mary with a B.S. in Biology. Her excitement for birds began at an early age, and she has been grateful to work with so many amazing species these past few years. She has previously worked with Eastern Bluebirds during undergrad, collected social and behavioral data on Monk Parakeets in Austin, TX, and most recently worked as a Lorikeet Keeper with Nashville Zoo. In her free time, Jackie enjoys listening to music, birding, reading, and visiting coffee shops. She is really looking forward to improving her raptor and songbird identification skills, connecting with the local community through education, and exploring Duluth. Jackie is incredibly excited to join the Hawk Ridge team as a trainee!
Alder Haus, Naturalist
Heya! My name’s Alder and I’m from Ankeny, Iowa. This is my second year at Hawk Ridge. I look forward to days of birding and environmental education. When I’m not working, I plan to venture around Minnesota even more.
Alder grew up in Ankeny, Iowa and earned a B.S. in Animal Ecology from Iowa State University. Their first experience with birds began on the family farm where they helped raise chickens and turkeys for meat and eggs. On special occasions, Alder spent time with their dad hunting for pheasant or geese. All of that changed when they went to ISU. Alder became the taxidermist for the student ornithology collection and worked there for four years. Many of the specimens collected were window strike birds including their spark bird – the Common Yellowthroat. Alder’s interest in birds grew deeper, leading to them volunteering at Iowa Bird Rehabilitation and interning at Iowa Young Birders (IYB). The highlight of their college experience was studying at the University of Montana for a semester. They loved to take Ornithology and Rocky Mountain Flora. When Alder wasn’t doing homework, they enjoyed participating in campus organizations, including Birding Club, Taxidermy articulation and Preservation Society, and Environmental Education Club. They would serve as co-president of EEC during their final year.
Kaia Hilgendorf-Roost, Owl Bander
Minnesota born and raised, Kaia graduated from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities in 2024 and received her degree in Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology. While at the U, she spent three years banding songbirds at Carpenter Nature Center, and spent three summers nest monitoring shorebirds, common eider, and other tundra nesting birds in the remote Alaskan Arctic. Since college, Kaia has worked on the Goshute Mountain with HawkWatch International, counting and banding raptors, in North Carolina songbird banding, at Hawk Ridge as a Banding Apprentice, and at the Palomarin Field Station in CA as a songbird banding apprentice. She is looking forward to many board and card games played in the owl blind – she will never say no to a challenge at a cribbage hand. In her free time, she enjoys cross-country skiing, biking, running, paddling, camping and just getting outdoors in general!
Marie Hosch, Counter
Hi, I’m Marie! I’ve been obsessed with birds since I was 13 years old, when I was inspired to pick up the Golden Guide that was hanging around my parents’ house and was shocked at how many species there are (“I have to see all of them!”). Since then, I’ve had the honor of studying birds at Cornell University; traveling to Costa Rica, China, and Australia to record avian vocalizations; helping with various bird research projects across the country (like with Brown-headed Nuthatches in FL and Red Knots in GA, and of course with hawks here in MN!); and guiding clients to see the incredible avian and mammal diversity found in Minnesota. I worked for a year at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology for their Merlin Bird ID project, and since high school I’ve helped curate data as a local Northeast Florida reviewer for eBird. During “non-bird-time” I love playing the harp, painting, and inventing recipes.
Lydia Ihde, Lead Naturalist
Lydia grew up in Decorah, Iowa, watching birds soar over cornfields, bluffs, and of course watching the Decorah bald eagles. She moved up to Duluth to attend the University of Minnesota Duluth majoring in Environmental and Outdoor Education. This is Lydia’s second year working as a naturalist with Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory. Her favorite part of the job is teaching school groups and getting them excited about the research that is happening at Hawk Ridge. She spends her free time camping, hiking, baking, and sharing her love for the outdoors with everyone around her. Lydia is very excited for this season at Hawk Ridge!
Anna Johnson, Naturalist
Anna is an outdoor enthusiast originally from LaCrosse, Wisconsin. She’s loved pretty much everything outdoors her whole life, but birds have a special place in her heart. Her passion for birds stems from her belief that they are some of our best connections to the natural world. She’s currently a student at the University of Minnesota Duluth where she is studying Biology and French while working as a Sea Kayak and Climbing Guide. She is also the President of the UMD Bird Club. She’s researched breeding waterbirds in Morocco and spring owl migration on Western Lake Superior. She’s excited to return for her third season at Hawk Ridge! Connecting with visitors and watching birds bring people together is Anna’s favorite part about the ridge. Other than birds, Anna truly enjoys any outdoor activity from climbing, skiing and biking to paddling and camping.
Althea (she/her), Naturalist
Growing up on the coast of Maine, Althea has been a naturalist from an early age. Thanks to her family and a local nature school, she developed a deep passion for the natural world. Before earning her BS in environmental science at the University of Southern Maine, she spent time as an environmental educator. In roles ranging from teaching forest kindergarten to leading teen wilderness expeditions through the White Mountains, she always found herself incorporating birds into her lessons. This eventually led her into hands-on ornithology research, where she gained extensive experience mist-netting and banding raptors, waterfowl, and songbirds. While she loves working across species, passerines have became the heart of her career, rooted in a lifelong love for songbirds greatly influenced by her birder grandparents. As a Hawk Ridge Naturalist, Althea is excited to share her passion with others through nature connection and the art of questioning.
Loreen L. (they/she), Naturalist
Loreen returns to Hawk Ridge for their second season this fall. They look forward to connecting with you at the Overlook soon, whether during an education program, doing count interpretation, or giving a public demonstration with one of our banded birds. Loreen currently lives in the Twin Ports and serves as a Library Technician at Duluth Public Library. This summer, she is attending the Migratory and Urban Bird Institute at University of Minnesota and is volunteering for HRBO’s MAPS project.
Jedda, Trainee
Jedda can be found wherever there are birds! She has lived across the eastern United States, from the cypress swamps of Florida to the suburbs of Chicago to the Pennsylvania Ridge and Valley. No matter where Jedda finds herself, she is fueled by a desire to explore and learn more about the natural world around her. Even better if she can share that passion with others! Her most recent stop was the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, where she recently received her B.S. in Wildlife Biology from Lees-McRae College. Her fascination with birds began on a bird club trip to the Outer Banks and was only strengthened every subsequent fall, where Jedda helped count thousands of migrating broad-winged hawks. Birds are not Jedda’s only interest, and during her time at college, she worked at the May Wildlife Rehabilitation Center helping rehabilitate hundreds of injured and orphaned animals. She also participated in several salamander research projects and designed a study investigating snake fungal disease. One of her best summers was spent catching, marking, and taking data on free ranging snakes to better understand how fungal disease affects high-elevation populations. In her free time, she is an avid hiker, artist, herper, and general appreciator of nature. Jedda is stoked for her first season with Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory this fall. She is looking forward to seeing more northern bird species and helping track them on their magnificent journey.
Sean McLaughlin, Lead Bird Migration Counter
Sean is a hawk watcher from Pennsylvania who has enjoyed watching birds migrate for over 15 years. A lifelong birder and naturalist, Sean has counted raptors at Stone Mountain and Tussey Mountain hawk watches in PA, before moving to the shore of Lake Superior. He leads the count team at Hawk Ridge, and has counted three springs at the West Skyline Hawk Count. He has also counted two spring seasons at Whitefish Point in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Outside of the world of watching migration, Sean has studied American Goshawks in the mountains of Oregon, breeding birds in northern Minnesota, and instructed courses at Hog Island Audubon Camp. He is excited to return to western Lake Superior for a fifth fall season, particularly for the flights of Common Nighthawks and Golden Eagles.
Peter Mundale, Banding Apprentice
Peter grew up in Blaine, Minnesota and has been fascinated by the outdoors his whole life. His obsession for birds began at 8 years old reading Peterson Field guides and only grew after traveling to Hawk Ridge for the first time in 2010! Over sixteen years later and still obsessed with birds, Peter is returning for his 5th season at Hawk Ridge! Other field work Peter has done includes doing National Forest Point Counts, Tracking Boreal Chickadees with Telemetry, working in the Saltmarshes with Seaside & Saltmarsh Sparrows, Spring Owl Banding, MAPS Banding, working on a Common Redpoll study, and leading his own research project with Horned Larks. Peter loves hawk watching! Whether it’s at Hawk Ridge, West Skyline, or Bagley Hill behind campus the magic of migration is a spectacle that he loves to watch and share with others! When he’s not birding (which is rare), Peter enjoys hiking, camping, snowshoeing, photography, mothing, and looking for dragonflies!
Sarah Needles, Raptor Bander
Sarah grew up in California and discovered her love for birds while exploring the coastal and grassland habitats of Santa Cruz during her college years. Her interest in birds led her to band songbirds in California and study nesting American Kestrels in Salt Lake City. This will be her fourth season at Hawk Ridge and her second season as a Raptor Bander. She is very excited to return to Duluth and experience another season of fall migration- her favorite time of year. In her free time, you can find Sarah biking, knitting, and reading.
Alder N. (they/them), Naturalist
Alder grew up in Evanston, Illinois and has been obsessed with animals for as long as they’ve had a personality. After discovering the delight of birding at summer camp in the Smoky Mountains, they studied biology and anthropology at Beloit College in Wisconsin and spent two summers researching painted turtle populations in Michigan. Alder has since had the opportunity to teach environmental education, including live raptor and reptile programs, in Alabama, Minnesota, and Colorado. They are particularly excited to return to the Great Lakes with their true love, gulls! When they’re not birding, Alder is usually swimming, knitting, cooking, or hanging out with their pet snake, Daisy
Lisa Oakland – Visitor Services Specialist
This is Lisa’s seventh year working at Hawk Ridge. For many years before she was hired she could be found up at the Ridge every fall to watch the migration and reconnect with staff, volunteers, and friends. She was raised in Duluth, not far from Hawk Ridge, in a family that spent a lot of time outdoors, especially enjoying frequent camping trips every summer. She came to love birding as an adult through the influence of her wife and her father, who was a Hawk Ridge board member and avid birder. Lisa has many years of retail/customer service experience. Her love of birding, customer experiences and love of interacting with people makes the merchandise trailer a perfect place for her to be in the fall. She lives in Cloquet, MN with her wife Barb and a fiesta cat. They enjoy spending free time camping with the cat, birding, and time outdoors in general-usually with binoculars. When not pursuing these activities, she can be found with a good book in hand.
Taylor Peltier, Banding Apprentice
Originally from Alaska and a transplant to Texas, Taylor joins us from central New York where she completed a B.S. in Wildlife Science from SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry and an A.A.S. in Environmental and Natural Resource Conservation from SUNY ESF Ranger School. This is Taylor’s seventh season of avian fieldwork and they are very excited to be a part of the Hawk Ridge team this summer (and again in the fall), participating in a number of projects as the Summer Avian Technician. Taylor’s role with us this summer focuses on locating broad-winged hawk nests in support of the new Central Broad-Winged Hawk Project. Having already lived and worked in a wide variety of places across North America, Taylor was still struck by the beauty of Duluth and is greatly looking forward to exploring all that it has to offer as the summer unfolds. And once summer comes to an end, Taylor is thrilled to be sticking around as one of our Fall Banding Apprentices! Taylor’s love for birds started with penguins at age five and has grown into a passion for all types of birds, but particularly raptors. In their free time, Taylor can be found birding, climbing, backpacking with friends, or doing various crafts from bookbinding to spinning yarn.
Jamie, Lead Visitor Services Specialist
Jamie is a recent graduate from Northern Michigan University, with a B.S. in Biology and concentration in ecology. This past summer she interned with the Maria Mitchell Association Natural Science Museum where she gained experience in educational outreach, animal husbandry and had the opportunity to do a Barn Owl Survey. She has also worked with the Wildlife Ecology Institute as a necropsy technician on a muskrat and mink population health project. She is excited to gain more experience with birds and learn more about hawk migration research. In the future she intends to do seasonal work in ecology before eventually continuing her education, hopefully in the bird world. In her free time she enjoys cross country skiing, trail running, and rowing. When she’s not outside she can usually be found cooking a good meal for her friends and loved ones.
Ember Schaefers (she/they), Visitor Services Specialist
Ember grew up in northeast Iowa and is an avid birder, plant nerd, and wasp watcher. She’s been birding for nearly three years and has led guided birding hikes, participated in Christmas bird counts, and assisted with bluebird nesting surveys. This will be her first year working at hawk ridge, where shes excited to learn even more and share her love for birds with others. In her free time, you can find her out hiking, skating, kayaking, fishing, and maybe getting just a little bit too friendly with a paper wasp or hornet.
Jamie Tigges, Naturalist
Jamie comes from Iowa and is a University of Iowa alumni with a BS in Environmental Sciences and Biology and current graduate student at the University of Minnesota-Duluth in the Masters of Environmental Outdoor Education program. He’s been banding and helping lead ornithologically focused events since 2018 at Iowa Lakeside Laboratory. He’s excited for the upcoming year and being able to help out again at Hawk Ridge. After a summer of hanging out with Hartley Nature Center kiddos Jamie is excited for the fall migration season!
Caroline Urban, Naturalist
This is Caroline’s fifth season working at Hawk Ridge. You’ll only see her on the weekends, because during the week she’s busy herding children as an Environmental Education teacher. Caroline loves Hawk Ridge because she gets to bird all day, chat with folks, and enjoy Duluth in the fall. When she isn’t working, Caroline likes to make crafts with yarn, read books and heckle her cat Basil.
Maya Vernick, Owl Bander
Maya grew up in Boston and graduated from Bates College in Maine in 2023 with a B.S. in biology. She has always had a deep love for animals and conservation, so following graduation she pursued a variety of internships and seasonal field work. She has done wildlife rehabilitation work in WI, sea turtle rehabilitation at the New England Aquarium, and nesting tern monitoring off the coast of MA. She gained experience in bird banding as a spring migration intern and a fall migration banding assistant with Berkshire Bird Observatory in MA. Most recently, she has completed field work focused on macaw conservation in the Amazon rainforest in Peru, and Lance-tailed Manakin cooperative breeding behavior in Panama. In her free time Maya enjoys hiking, art, and cuddling with her very cute and fluffy dog Kayla.
Stacy (she/her), Naturalist
Stacy grew up in Pennsylvania and North Carolina, where she developed a lifelong appreciation of the outdoors. In 2024, she fell in love with Minnesota while taking a bird banding course at Wolf Ridge Environmental Learning Center. After moving to Duluth with her husband, Joe, in 2025, she became an active volunteer with bird banding programs at Hawk Ridge, Wolf Ridge, and Sugarloaf Cove. A former university professor, Stacy holds an MEd in Special Education and a PhD in Curriculum & Instruction from NC State University. She is excited to be part of the fall migration season and looks forward to sharing her enthusiasm for birds with others.
Logan Woods, Naturalist
Logan is a native Minnesotan who grew up in the Twin Cities. After graduating from Saint John’s University in 2023, he made his way up north where birds became a significant interest. He spent the last three years as a naturalist at Wolf Ridge Environmental Learning Center about 60 miles up the North Shore. At Wolf Ridge, he started banding Black Capped Chickadees and now bands for all Wolf Ridge projects. This will be his third fall at Hawk Ridge and looks forward to sharing the marvel of bird migration with others. When not occupied with birds, Logan likes to run, dance and keep up with Minnesota sports teams.
June Yost, Passerine Bander
June is coming from California for the third year in a row to be a passerine bander at Hawk Ridge this fall. She’s spent the last couple of years banding passerines on the west coast, and is super excited to spend some time working with the immense songbird diversity that Hawk Ridge sees during fall migration. She found her love for birds at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and she is especially fond of Bushtits, Wrentits, and California Thrashers. When she’s not banding passerines, you can find June on the count platform distracting the counters with funny stories and rusty raptor identification skills.
Soren Zappia, Count Apprentice
Soren grew up in neighboring Wisconsin and has loved birds ever since he first looked out his grandmother’s window. He is excited to return to his second season at Hawk Ridge, after spending last fall as a Trainee. This past spring, he was a Raptor Counter at Dinosaur Ridge Bird Observatory in Colorado, and this summer he worked as a tech recovering geolocator tags from songbirds. He also has experience with wildlife education and songbird banding. He loves to lead bird walks and share the joy of birding with everyone, and is fascinated by the magic of migration. He is excited to learn more about hawkwatching and morning flight as a Count Apprentice this fall. When he’s not birding, Soren loves board games, puzzles, and hiking.
