Hawk Mania celebrates all things birds

The looming Fantasy Fest might be filling the minds of many in Key West, but for birders, the big event takes a back seat to what they considered one of the greatest times of the year — the annual migration of birds heading south for the winter.

And the Keys are among the best places to witness the aerial spectacle. So the Florida Keys Audubon Society will hold its second annual Hawk Mania Friday and Saturday. The two main events:

▪ A keynote talk by renowned raptor identification expert Rafael Galvez at the Key West Garden Club, 1100 S. Atlantic Blvd., Friday at 6:30 p.m.

▪ An all-day Hawk Watch on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Fort Zachary Taylor State Park, at the Truman Waterfront at the end of Southard Street. There will also be a songbird walk, a butterfly walk, a shorebird walk and a seawatch. All events are free and open to anyone interested (there is a fee to get into Fort Zachary Taylor State Park).

Every fall tens of thousands of hawks, eagles and falcons migrate through the Florida Keys, a phenomenon that is surprisingly easy to miss.

“In September and October ,” said Florida Keys Audubon Society Executive Director Mark Hedden.

“During the fall we are positioned in a unique place along the Atlantic migratory flyway to see all these birds before they leave the continent. They head towards the Caribbean and South America, and it’s just beautiful. Sometimes you see thousands of birds in a day,” said Galvez, director of the Florida Keys Hawkwatch.

More peregrine falcons pass through the Keys than anywhere else on the planet, Hedden and Galvez say.

“This is a chance to have really good looks at migrating raptors. I can almost guarantee you will see a peregrine falcon if you stick around for 20 minutes,” Hedden said.

Assisting in Saturday’s count will be expert hawk watchers Jeff Bouton of Leica Sport Optics and Cameron Cox, lead counter at the Florida Keys Hawkwatch. Both have worked as lead counters for the Cape May Bird Observatory.

There will also be several satellite events both days. On Saturday at 9:30 a.m. Mark Whiteside will lead a songbird walk at Fort Zachary Taylor. At 11 a.m., Amy Grimm and Leigh Williams will lead a butterflies walk within the park. At 1 p.m., Cox will lead up a seawatch from the edge of the park, looking for pelagic birds.

All events are free and open to anyone interested. There is a fee to enter Fort Zachary Taylor State Park.

For more information visit www.keysaudubon.org, send an email to keysaudubon@gmail.com or call (305) 771-5807.