Raven Rescue – It Took a Village!

by Gail Garber, Executive Director

Sometimes, it takes a village to set things right! In this particular case, it took one Hawks Aloft staff (yours truly), one longtime volunteer, trusted raptor rescuer, and photographer too, Larry Rimer, one motivated Pulte Homes land supervisor, Ron Fernandez, and his Boy Scout Troop. We applaud companies that work to protect nesting birds and other wildlife. It is far too easy to look the other way, especially during the spring nesting season. Such was the case in the Mariposa subdivision of northwest Rio Rancho, where Pulte Homes is building a new subdivision.  

As the earth moving equipment arrived to begin site preparation, it became apparent that there was an active Common Raven nest right in the middle of the site. Mr. Fernandez and Pulte Homes consulted with the US Fish and Wildlife Service and also with Hawks Aloft, sending a photograph of the nestling ravens, already with emergent feathers. We estimated the age of the three nestlings at about 3 weeks which would have placed fledging another 2-3 weeks out. We asked Pulte to establish a buffer zone around the nest and try to wait it out – which they did! 

However, two weeks later, when all other earth work was complete, there was no choice but to mitigate the raven nest. Working with Ron Fernandez, Superintendent of Land Development, we developed a plan to re-nest the family to another juniper tree some 60 yards distant, in direct line of sight of the original tree but beyond the work zone. Ron, a longtime Boy Scout leader, sprang into action, rounding up several scouts to help build an artificial nest. They spent Saturday, June 2, with a wicker basket, clippers, loppers, and ingenuity near the newly chosen tree. With no prior experience in nest building (not being birds after all!), the crew fashioned a nest for the babies and secured it. 

Sunday morning dawned with a light cloud cover with relative calm, following howling winds throughout the the night, just one more potential stressor. We gathered at the site with towels, boxes, a ladder, and a prayer that all would go well. Haste was essential to reduce stress on the family. Hiking over to the former nest tree, Ron and Larry set up the extension ladder and worked together to remove first one nestling, then another, then three, and four, and finally FIVE nestlings in all. All the while Mom and Dad Raven hovered in the air above or nearby squawking mightily. The nestlings hollered too. Move the ladder, tote the boxes, position it again, and climb! The littlest raven was first, followed quickly by the others. As soon as Larry took the final snapshot, we withdrew to watch in some surprise as both parents almost immediately flew over the new tree to investigate.  

We drove away hopeful that all would be well, but due diligence necessitated a lengthier observation period. So we drove around to the other side of the site and watched through binoculars. Both parents soon landed on the new tree, but then also returned to the former nest as if to say, “Hmm! What the heck just happened?!” Later in the day, Larry watched from afar as the Dad Raven delivered prey and fed the babies!  I wish all of our efforts turned out so well. 

Meet the 2018

Hawks Aloft Board of Directors!

We thank each of our directors for their service!

Front Row (L-R): Alwyn VanDerwalt, Carter Cherry

Back Row (L-R): Mary Chappelle, Terry Edwards,

Dave DeWitt

Summer is for the Birds, by Maggie Grimason, Senior Editor and Educator

While offering food to your backyard birds might feel more important in winter time when natural food sources are scarce, summer is also a great time provide such resources to local and migratory birds in your area. By mid-summer, many birds will have extra mouths to feed and summer also provides a great opportunity to spot neotropical migrants that don’t stick around for colder months.

Below are quick and easy tips to make your backyard the ideal stopover for birds this summer—and by proxy, all the more enjoyable for you and your family.

Flashy orioles are a cinch to attract to your feeders around this time of year. If you have a platform feeder you can easily offer any of these known favorites of the beautiful migrator and enjoy their vibrant colors and pleasant chatter all summer—oranges sliced in half, spoonfuls of jelly.

Nestboxes are a nice way to invite bluebirds into your yard during breeding season. During this energy-intensive time you may attract bluebirds to platform feeders by offering mealworms. Mealworms offer the protein that bluebirds need during this time of year.

If hummingbirds are your thing—make sure to mix your nectar without red food dye (in proportions of ¼ cups of sugar to each cup of water) and try hanging your feeder in a shady spot to prolong the lifespan of the mixture. 

Another sure-fire way to bring birds to your home? Make it an oasis by offering a bird bath, filling it with fresh water each morning.

Scott's Oriole, image by Larry Rimer

Recurring Donations, by Angela Green, Office Manager

Looking for a great way to make a difference on a regular basis? Interested in helping Hawks Aloft offer educational programs, promote conservation, and rescue raptors? Then a recurring donation may be a good fit for you! 

A recurring donation is a series of gifts given on an open-ended schedule. Recurring donations work well for donors because a small monthly amount tends to fit better in a budget than a large lump sum—and you can stop the donations at any time. The amount can be anything that works with your budget, even $5! These donations are commonly done on a monthly basis, but if you’d like a different frequency, we can work with you on that.

If you’d like to learn more about setting up a recurring donation to Hawks Aloft, just call (505) 828-9455. I’d be more than happy to help.

Female Golden Eagle that came in on June 2, from Navajo Nation, suffering from emaciation. She is eating well now, around 4 rats per day ($8/day) in food. All donations help to cover the cost of food.

In Full Swing, by Amanda Schluter, Biologist

Field season is in full swing. The Jemez CFLRP Songbird Surveys kept Katrina and I very busy beginning in mid-May. With the impending forest closure, our field surveyors were trying to get two rounds of surveys complete before conditions limited our access. Although I fully support the complete shutdown of the forest, it was a little hectic to get all the surveys done before Memorial Day weekend. We did run into a couple of weather issues--Hawks Aloft has a very strict policy of not surveying in a burn area if it is windy for the surveyor’s safety. We missed out on two sites for this reason. Surveys will pick up again when the forest re-opens after the monsoons have started. I’m know I’m not the only one wishing for some good rains this year.

In conjunction with the Jemez songbird surveys, we continued to check the raptor nests in the Albuquerque bosque, the Upper Rio Grande Gorge, and El Segundo coal mine. I was happy to see my Great Horned Owl nest in the bosque fledge. We had one Golden Eagle nest fail in the Upper Rio Grande Gorge, but three others had growing chicks the last time we visited. We are going to check their progress this week and any Red-tailed Hawks, Peregrine Falcon, and Prairie Falcon nests.

June should be another busy month of checking nests, songbird surveys, and maybe getting a chance to do some laundry in my down time. I always look forward to this time of the year, when our hard work pays off with the fledglings leaving their nests to start their lives.

Photo by Amanda Schluter

Support Hawks Aloft by Shopping at Smith's!

Many of you have long been Hawks Aloft supporters, and a good number of you have also been longtime Smith’s shoppers. For those not in the know, the grocery chain has a program that provides a small kick-back quarterly to nonprofits when their supporters link their shopper’s cards to the organization.

The company recently changed their policies regarding the program—so even if you’ve signed up in the past, you may need to do it again! The good news is that it is easy to do.

1)      Go to Smith's Foods

2)      Either create an account or sign-in to an existing one

3)      Once logged in, click on “Account Summary” on the left sidebar

4)      From there, scroll down to “Inspiring Donations Program” and click “Enroll”

5)      A searchable list will come up, you can either search for “Hawks Aloft” or enter our ID number for the program, GL430

6)      Shop using your card and now that every time you do so, you help out Hawks Aloft!

We appreciate your ongoing support in this, and so many other capacities!

*Check out an upcoming calendar of events, as well as thank-you's after the Photographer's Gallery*

Photographers Monthly Gallery - Keith Bauer

This month, we feature Keith Bauer, whose photography has been featured in numerous Hawks Aloft publications. Keith offers photography workshops locally as well as far afield. In October 2018, Keith and Greg Basco are leading a photography trip to Chile, designed for you to capture fantastic images of Chile's most amazing places from North to South. If you want to improve your landscape and wildlife photography (and your post-processing!) while taking amazing photos in an exotic destination, this is the trip for you!

It begins in the beautiful city of Santiago. We'll then fly north to the Calama airport. Upon arrival, we take our private bus to our hotel in a beautiful colonial town on the edge of the Chilean altiplano. We'll spend a few days in the altiplano photographing vicunas, the beautiful night sky, flamingos and so much more.

We'll then head south to the amazing scenery of Patagonia for the remainder of this workshop, with stunning mountain views, rivers, wildlife and jaw dropping landscapes. We'll also have a fair chance at photographing Andean Condors, Pygmy Owls, and Lesser Rhea (an ostrich-like flightless bird).

October 8, 2018 - October 18, 2018

This is a trip unlike any other to South America to share the beauty of Chile.  Click here for complete details!

Below are four images, from near and far :