Our Grand Canyon HawkWatch is one of our most visited sites, seeing nearly 1,500 visitors each fall. This count site is also the only spot in our network where you can see the Critically Endangered California Condor. So far, our crew has counted 442 individuals of 17 different species. Together Red-tailed Hawks and American Kestrels make up nearly half of the count, sitting at 48% of the total.
Help us welcome the 2022 migration crew at our Grand Canyon HawkWatch site! We are so excited to introduce you to them.
Georgia Coleman, Crew Lead
Georgia is excited to start her second migration season with HawkWatch International, counting previously at Commissary Ridge HawkWatch! This will be her first time at the Grand Canyon (ever, not just for hawkwatching), and she’s looking forward to counting raptors at such a scenic location. Georgia most recently worked on HWI’s American Kestrel Studies and had so much fun following kestrel families through the nesting season! When she is not working, Georgia enjoys wildlife photography, baking bread, and spending time with her loved ones.
Caroline Wolfe-Merritt
Caroline grew up in North Carolina after spending her early childhood in Colorado—and is thrilled to return to the West and explore it through an ecological lens! After a fabulous first season of hawkwatching at our Corpus Christi HawkWatch last fall, she is excited to meet some more western raptors and expand her raptor ID skills against the spectacular backdrop of Yaki Point. Caroline comes to hawkwatching with a lifelong interest in conservation, science, and birds. Since graduating from Earlham College in 2020 with a degree in Biology, she has worked with various threatened and endangered species – most recently, Red-cockaded Woodpeckers and Florida Grasshopper Sparrows in Avon Park, Florida.
Will Baxter-Bray
Will graduated from the University of Vermont in May of 2022, and this is his first season of raptor counting with HawkWatch International. He has been a lifelong wildlife appreciator and has worked on a number of reptile and bird-related projects in the past. In Will’s free time, he loves to go birding, play chess, and do jiu-jitsu. It is hard for him to pick a single raptor as his favorite, but since we’ve made him choose, he picks the Osprey.
If you want to chat with our Grand Canyon crew, join our “Friends of Grand Canyon HawkWatch” Facebook page. If you are looking for our most current counts or information on how to visit our sites, check out this page on our website.
This blog was written by Sammy Riccio, our Communications Manager, as well as the 2022 Grand Canyon HawkWatch crewmembers. You can learn more about Sammy here.
