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Wallkill visitors treated to two hawk releases

| 23 Sep 2014 | 03:40
    Giselle Smisko of the Wantage-based Avian Wildlife Center and her son William, 16, released two broad-winged hawks as more than 40 visitors watched at the Wallkill Wildlife Refuge’s satellite office on Owens Station Road.
    Giselle Smisko of the Wantage-based Avian Wildlife Center and her son William, 16, released two broad-winged hawks as more than 40 visitors watched at the Wallkill Wildlife Refuge’s satellite office on Owens Station Road.
    Giselle Smisko of the Wantage-based Avian Wildlife Center holds a broad-winged hawks as more than 40 visitors watched at the Wallkill Wildlife Refuge’s satellite office on Owens Station Road.
    Giselle Smisko of the Wantage-based Avian Wildlife Center holds a broad-winged hawks as more than 40 visitors watched at the Wallkill Wildlife Refuge’s satellite office on Owens Station Road.
    Giselle Smisko of the Wantage-based Avian Wildlife Center is shown with one of several raptors that were included in the indoor segment of the presentation.
    Giselle Smisko of the Wantage-based Avian Wildlife Center is shown with one of several raptors that were included in the indoor segment of the presentation.

VERNON — The Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge presented their “Flight of the Hawks” program on Sudnday that provided pointers on where and when to look for the raptors and how to identify them.

The speaker was Giselle Smisko of the Wantage-based Avian Wildlife Center.

Presented in the satellite office on Owens Station Road, the presentation was “standing room only” with visitors overflowing into the buildings vestibule. The 90-minute program concluded with the release of two broad-winged hawks.

According to Smisko, the program marks the start International Hawk Migration Week, which is a week when more hawks are counted across North America than any other. The Hawk Migration Association of North America (HMANA) maintains a website on HawkCount.org where sites and their daily counts are tabulated.

Programs at the Refuge are free and donations are accepted.

Donating to or joining the Friends of the Wallkill River National Wildlife Refuge supports the public programs and the work of the refuge.

For information, call 973-702-7266, ext. 10 or visit www.fws.gov/northeast/wallkillriver. The Refuge headquarters is located at 1547 County Route 565 in Vernon.

— Photos by Chris Wyman