Audubon Greenwich hosted the 20th Annual Fall Festival and Hawk Watch in celebration of the yearly migration of Eagles, Hawks, Osprey and other birds heading south toward their winter homes. Every August to November, staff and volunteers at the Quaker Ridge Hawk Watch Site count over 20,000 birds of prey flying over the Audubon Center in Greenwich. This year, over 2,500 people from throughout the region gathered to share in the wonder of the fall raptor migration by watching breathtaking flying bird shows, meeting raptors and other animals up close, taking hayrides, and learning about nature.
Other activities included a climbing wall, an inflatable bungee game, dipping with nets at the pond and carnival games. The Canon Bird Walk Experience, a new attraction this year, gave guests the opportunity to borrow high-end photography equipment and join an Audubon naturalists for a bird walk to sample the amazing wildlife that can be captured through the lens of a camera. Each day ended with the release of a rehabilitated red-tailed hawk from the back porch of the center building as hundreds of festival-goers watched from the meadow beneath.
“It was amazing to see how this year’s festival was such a tremendous showcase of the Audubon community in our area,” says Eli Schaffer, Assistant Center Director. “Not only did we welcome back hundreds of families we engage with our regular educational programing and redesigned attractions such as the Hilfiger Children’s Learning Center or the Nature Play Trail, but we also had many adult nature enthusiasts and photographers joining us this year. With the beautiful weather, and so many people here that weekend, it was a great feeling to know that we were bringing our message of connecting people to nature to such a large crowd.”
Photographs by Cheryl Moss
