Putting fun back in the Hawkwatch!

Here's a special invitation to birders and hawk watchers to witness the bird of prey migrations in Veracruz Mexico, fall 2010. Veracruz is one of the best seats on  the planet to observe migrating birds of prey and resident raptors.
Veracruz hawk watch is raptor observation on a grand scale.
Come on down this fall and sit back with a cold drink and see hawk watch like you have never seen it before! We have scouted out the best views, great food and birding sites. Join us.



For the fall 2010 Veracruz  Hawkwatch Tours I will once again be teaming up with Simon Thompson of Verntures Birding Tours- "Putting the fun back into birding!" We have a fine team of guides this year, Simon Thompson, Frank Gallo, Bill Thompson and David McCauley.
We have selected 4 dates for the Veracruz hawkwatch tours:
Tour #1.   September 25th -October 2nd
Tour #2    October 2nd-9th
Tour #3.   October 9th-16th
Tour #4.   October16th-23rd
**each tour is 7 days and begins and ends on a Saturday.
For the tour specifics please visit The Ventures Birding Tours website

What is HAWKWATCH?

Yesterday afternoon I took some time out here in NYC to visit MOMA (Museum of Modern Art) I had a great time viewing many of the great masterpieces of  of contemporary art. As a photographer and lover of art, the visit to the museum brought me special pleasure as I visually soaked in my favorite artists, Francis Bacon, Matisse, Picasso, Modigliani, Giacometti, Dubuffet......   I came across a painting by the artist John Baldessari entitled "What is Painting"

As I pondered the words of the painting I thought how fitting they were to describe not just painting but what is the essence of the hawkwatch.
Here goes my version:
WHAT IS HAWKWATCH?
DO YOU SENSE HOW ALL THE VISUAL ELEMENTS OF HAWKWATCH ARE CONNECTED? HAWKWATCH IS A CREATION FOR THE EYE AND CAN ONLY BE HINTED AT WITH WORDS.
As a nature photographer and birding guide I have struggled to capture visually and describe in words the hawkwatch, its not an easy thing to do. The "hawkwatch" is GRAND in its scale, a panorama of migration.
In Veracruz where I live the migration of raptors(15 species) is coupled with migrations of butterflies, dragonflies, Anhinga, American white pelicans, Woodstorks, scissor-tailed flycatchers.....(the list goes on)

Here is a photo that I took that expresses one dimension of the hawkwatch. (...... a mix of Turkey vultures, Swainson's hawks and a Broad-winged hawk, all in migration.

Looking to the fall hawkwatch 2010 in Veracruz

A mixture of migrating raptors,Swainson's Hawks, Broad-winged hawks and Turkey Vultures.  Spring 2010           Veracruz Mexico ©2010 David McCauley

Greetings to All! At the moment I am in NYC. I arrived a week ago after spending several months in Veracruz. I still have the thrill "buzz" after witnessing this years spring raptor migrations in Veracruz. This is my tenth year of observing the birds of prey migrations in Veracruz. I am still in the process of editing thousands of images that I took of this years spring migration. Over the next few months I will be sharing some of these photos here on the Veracruz hawkwatch blog.
For the fall 2010 Veracruz  Hawkwatch Tours I will once again be teaming up with Simon Thompson of Verntures Birding Tours- "Putting the fun back into birding!" We have a fine team of guides this year, Simon Thompson, Frank Gallo, Bill Thompson and David McCauley.
We have selected 4 dates for the Veracruz hawkwatch tours:
Tour #1.   September 25th -October 2nd
Tour #2    October 2nd-9thTour #3.   October 9th-16th
Tour #4.   October16th-23rd
**each tour is 7 days and begins and ends on a Saturday.
For the tour specifics please visit The Ventures Birding Tours website