The Chelan Ridge Hawk Migration Festival is cancelled and the HawkWatch International study site at the ridge is closed to the public this year due to the Black Canyon Fire, according to program biologist Kent Woodruff.
A study team that is on the ridge now “is taking prudent precautions and checking in regularly with the fire team,” Woodruff said. “This is our 19th consecutive year at Chelan Ridge, and we’re lucky we get to continue long-term data collection.” However, road conditions in the area are too precarious for public access, said Woodruff.
At this weekend’s Hawk Festival, which was moved to North Cascades Basecamp, space is still available at a lecture by Dave Oleyar from HawkWatch International on Friday (Sept. 11) at 7 p.m.
The Washington State University Raptor Club will be doing live raptor demonstrations at the basecamp on Saturday (Sept. 12).
Field trips on Saturday and Sunday are full, due to parking restrictions at Harts Pass, Woodruff said. A HawkWatch study team that had been based at Slate Peak had to be pulled off the mountain because of bad weather the past 10 days. “It’s been snowing, socked in and blowing like crazy,” Woodruff said, which made spotting migrating hawks nearly impossible, not to mention uncomfortable for the biologists in the field.
For more information, go to www.ncwaudubon.org.
