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.