Meet the 2022 Crew: Bonney Butte

This is Karl’s second year counting at Bonney Butte HawkWatch. He is looking forward to sharing his love of the beautiful birds we monitor with visitors and hopefully showing them his favorite raptor, a Northern Goshawk, up close. Karl graduated from Colorado State University with a degree in Wildlife Biology and has been lucky enough to put it to use—traveling all around the western US working with birds. When he isn’t counting raptors, Karl is pursuing his “co-passion” working with horses. He manages the corral program for a summer camp, teaching kids how to ride and lead backcountry pack trips. Karl is looking forward to a great migration season and hopes to see some of y’all up on the butte!

Tim is from Michigan and has an extensive background in avian fieldwork. He has worked on projects ranging from raptor banding to waterbird counts to shorebird nest surveys and banding. Tim is looking forward to spending time on Bonney Butte and expanding his raptor banding knowledge. This is Tim’s first season counting with HawkWatch International.

Rebecca is a Nebraska native and has worked in conservation for five years. She received her degree in Ethnobotany at the University of Alaska and has studied a beautifully diverse range of species. Rebecca has focused mostly on pollinators, working the last four years creating educational content for two monarch butterfly conservation non-profits. She is also the co-founder of the Nebraska Mycological Society. Rebecca is excited to extend her skills into raptor conservation with her first season of hawkwatching. She looks forward to growing her ID and banding skills and spotting some Red-tailed Hawks and Peregrine Falcons. When she’s not foraging for mushrooms or photographing birds, you will probably find Rebecca riding her horse or leather working. 

Sarah is a Texan, recently graduating from Texas State University with a degree in Wildlife Biology. This is Sarah’s first season with HawkWatch International. She has previous experience with wildlife rehabilitation, mist netting, and bird surveying. She is looking forward to banding this season and seeing some eagles fly by. Outside of work, Sarah enjoys reading, baking, and hanging out with her cat, Oreo. Her favorite raptor is a Great Horned Owl. 

Gillian is originally from Maryland but has spent most of her life in Indiana. She holds an undergraduate degree in Wildlife Biology from Ball State University. She was particularly drawn to birds of prey after an internship at a raptor rehabilitation center. This spring, Gillian was the counter at Tussey Mountain Hawk Watch in central Pennsylvania, where she experienced the best of the eastern Golden Eagle migration. She has also worked as a technician on several other bird projects, including a tidal marsh sparrow project in New Jersey this summer. She is joined by her dog, Irwin, and is looking forward to experiencing fall migration in the western U.S. for the first time. Her favorite raptor at the moment is the Harris’s Hawk.

This is Irwin’s first season on a hawkwatching crew, although his human has dragged him to three different states this year to do bird stuff. His favorite activities are greeting visitors to the watch site, making sure no crew member goes anywhere alone, and getting lost in dust storms created by his own zoomies. He prides himself in keeping the camp squirrel-free and assisting in cleaning dishes. He isn’t sure what a raptor is.

*Note: We love dogs, but if you bring them to the count site, please have a leash and respect crew requests to keep them in control and at a safe distance. We ask this especially when the crew has banded birds in hand and during releases. Thank you for helping us protect this critical, long-term research.