This year at the Corpus Christi HawkWatch will be a celebration. Not just because of our annual Celebration of Flight Festival, but also because this year, we hawkwatch to celebrate the life of Dane Ferrell. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Dane, he served 20 years at the Corpus Christi HawkWatch, counting for his last year in 2023. This fall, we plan to live by one of our favorite Dane quotes, “never let responsibilities get in the way of hawkwatching.”
Education was also something Dane held near and dear to his heart. This fall, we are offering a birding tour led by HWI’s Research Biologist & Banding Coordinator, Jesse Watson, alongside Swarovski Naturalist and friend of HWI, Clay Taylor. Join us for birding by day and hawkwatching in the afternoon to learn from some of the best. Click here to learn more.
Now let’s introduce you to the 2024 crew! We’re thrilled to have a team full of veteran HWI hawkwatchers this fall, many of whom you have seen before on the platform.
Libby Even
Libby Even has been hooked on hawk migration since the day she saw 100,000 birds migrate past the Corpus Christi HawkWatch in 1999. Like many, she kept coming back year after year, making memories and lifelong friends. Although her first official year as a crewmember with HawkWatch International was 2006, Libby has been volunteering at the HawkWatch since 2000. Libby can’t wait to share the miracle of nature that is raptor migration with visitors.
James Petersen
James is excited to come back to Corpus Christi after counting at the Grand Canyon and Commissary Ridge HawkWatches for the last couple of years. He got his degree from the University of Maine in Wildlife Ecology, and, since then, has worked wildlife jobs all across the country. For fun, you can find him birdwatching in the Chiricahuas in southeast Arizona, playing board games such as Wingspan, and showing people birds they have never seen before. He is most looking forward to seeing the Broad-winged Hawk migration, and his favorite raptor is a tie between American Goshawk and Merlins.
Tamara Marian Russo
Tamara, originally from Argentina, discovered her passion for birds of prey when she moved to Mexico eight years ago and found the River of Raptors in Veracruz. She worked at the River of Raptors as an environmental educator for two seasons, learning her first skills in raptor identification. In 2022 she won a grant to do a traineeship at HawkMountain Sanctuary, where she reinforced her ID and environmental education skills. In 2023 Tamara served on our Grand Canyon HawkWatch crew. For her, it was a dream come true to look for her favorite birds at one of the most incredible places in the world.
This year at Corpus Christi, Tamara wants to take her practice to the next level by counting a sky full of raptors! She is also excited to meet the crew because birds have introduced her to many amazing friends, and raptor migration connects us across the continent. In her free time, Tamara likes to go for walks, explore nature, do some Yoga, and read books. Her favorite raptor is the magnificent Goshawk.
Caroline Wolfe-Merritt
Caroline is a biologist by training (B.A. Biology, Earlham College) and a naturalist at heart. She was first introduced to hawkwatching in 2021 when she counted with the Corpus Christi HawkWatch crew for a whirlwind of a season, and since then, she’s found her eyes drawn to the skies during migration. After her season in Texas, Caroline joined HWI for another season at the Grand Canyon HawkWatch in 2022. When she’s not birding, Caroline enjoys hiking, running, and exploring new places. Though hard-pressed to pick a favorite raptor, Swallow-tailed Kites and Northern Harriers never cease to amaze Caroline, nor does a whirling kettle. She looks forward to documenting this year’s migration in Texas.
If you need help planning your trip or are curious about how the count is going throughout the season, join our “Friends of Corpus Christi HawkWatch” Facebook group! There, you can chat directly with our crew and other bird nerds excited about the fall count.
This blog was written by Sammy Riccio, our Communications Manager, as well as our 2024 crewmembers. You can learn more about Sammy here.
