The Florida Keys Audubon Society will hold its annual Hawk Mania event this Friday and Saturday, October 11 & 12. It’s a chance to see and learn about the tens of thousands of hawks, falcons, eagles and ospreys that migrate through the Keys each fall.
These events are open and free to kids and adults and anyone who is interested. No experience necessary. There is a fee to get into Fort Zachary Taylor State Park.
Friday, October 11
Photographer & Filmmaker Drew Fulton:
Adventures In Wildlife Photography
Key West Garden Club, 1100 Atlantic Blvd, Key West
6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Drew Fulton is a photographer and filmmaker with a passion for exploring the natural world and documenting biodiversity. He is dedicated to creating media that highlights natural history and promotes environmental preservation. Growing up in Orlando, he fell in love with the diverse birdlife of Florida at a young age. While at Bowdoin College, he returned to Florida for a five- month photographic residency in Everglades National Park to tell the story of the complex ecology and natural history of the Everglades. As a Thomas J. Watson Fellow, he spent a year traveling Australia and photographing endemic birds. His project, Canopy in the Clouds, funded by a National Geographic Young Explorer’s Grant, created a bilingual environmental education program centered on the canopy of the cloud forests of Monteverde, Costa Rica. Drew has returned to Australia to work with National Geographic photographer Tim Laman on multiple projects focused on the remote Cape York peninsula. His skills as a tree climber, photographer, and educator has taken him to Borneo with a group of Cornell University students, to Papua New Guinea on a biodiversity survey, and off the coast of Turkey documenting the excavation of a 2,000-year old Roman shipwreck. His recent work has taken him to Madagascar, Thailand, Ecuador, and Cyprus for a diverse range of projects. He has recently returned to Florida and currently lives in Gainesville.
Join Drew as he takes you on a journey through his lens and shares some of the natural history stories he experienced along the way.
Saturday, October 12
Hawkwatch at Fort Zach
Fort Zachary Taylor State Park
9:00 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Hawk Watch at Fort Zach. Stop by for a few minutes or the whole day. Mid-October is the peak of the annual raptor migration through the Keys. We can almost guarantee seeing a Peregrine Falcon (the fastest bird on the planet) as well as good chances at several other species of hawks and falcons, including Northern Harriers, Broad-winged Hawks, Short-tailed Hawks, Merlins, American Kestrels, Ospreys and Bald Eagles. Chief spotters will be Jeff Bouton of Leica Sport Optics, and Mark Hedden of Florida Keys Audubon.
Hedden has been involved in the Florida Keys Hawkwatch, in Marathon, in various capacities — including as a hawk counter and a hawk bander — since 2003. Bouton has worked as a bird bander, a hawk counter, a birding guide, and a field researcher all over the United States. He has led a team of competitive birdwatchers through Israel, and has sought out rare and beautiful birds pretty much anywhere you can point to on a map.
Meet at the tent in the field at the west end of Fort Zachary Taylor State Park.
9:30 a.m.
Songbird walk with Dr. Mark Whiteside
Songbirds, small, colorful birds that – also know as passerines – are also migrating through the Keys at this time of year. Long-time birder and Florida Keys Audubon society president Mark Whiteside will lead a short walk around the park’s native hardwood hammock.
Meet at the tent in the field at the west end of Fort Zachary Taylor State Park.
10:30 a.m.
Butterfly walk with Amy Grimm and Leigh Williams
Join the Big Pine Key dynamic duo of butterflies – Amy Grimm and Leigh Williams – for a short walk around the edge areas of the park, seeking some of nature’s most delicate and beautiful winged creatures.
Meet at the tent in the field at the west end of Fort Zachary Taylor State Park.
11:00 a.m.
Informal Wildlife Photography Clinic with Drew Fulton
Stop by for an unstructured conversation in the field with wildlife photographer and Drew Fulton. Bring your camera, ask questions about the camera you have, the camera you’re thinking about, how to get started, how to raise your game, techniques, ethics, and what have you. Maybe even take a few pictures.
Meet at the tent in the field at the west end of Fort Zachary Taylor State Park..
Repeat: These events are open and free to kids and adults and anyone who is interested. No experience necessary. There is a fee to get into Fort Zachary Taylor State Park.
For more information email keysaudubon@gmail.com.