Hawk Ridge Hawk Watchers: Science + Entertainment for Children of All Ages, 1 to 100

Birds and bird watchers intersect on a hilltop.
It's an endless sequence of autumn flyovers.
Ravens
Broadies
Osprey
Sharpies
Kestrels
Golden Eagles
Bald Eagles
Hawks of every stripe.
"Cranes," he declares. "31 streaming thru that cloud that looks like a hand."
"I got 34," she replies.

* * * *

It's been too long since I'd been to Hawk Ridge here on Duluth's Skyline Drive. After the Phil Fitzpatrick/Penny Perry book launch a couple weeks back, I decided I'd better rectify this neglect. With an opening in my schedule and a semi-sunny day, I made a decision to make my way to Hawk Ridge.

Birds have been a fascination for generations, for centuries. Leonardo DaVinci studied them, seeking to understand the nature of flight. In college I did some paintings of birds, and loved trying to capture the feeling of birds in flight.

Pro sports teams feature quite a number of bird mascots. Cardinals, Falcons, Eagles, Ravens--we saw a raven today--Seahawks, Orioles, Blue Jays, Angels. (OK, angels have wings, but are probably not birds.)

I like to say Hawk Ridge is for the birds, but it's really for the birders. The birds are just doing their thing, the way they've always done, migrating south for the winter, returning in the spring. It's people who discovered the routes these creatures choose and in recent years strive to document their patterns.

In ancient times birds were omens. Today they really are an oracle of sorts, helping reveal the health of our environment.

My opening notes at the top of this post were from yesterday afternoon. It was fun to see the cranes come into view through the cloud, which brought to mind the poem from Phil Fitzpatrick's Hawks On High, titled Flying Ichabods, a clever word play off Washington Irvings's central character in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.

Flying Ichabods
One day I heard the flying Ichabods
Better known as Sandhill Cranes
Long necks in front and longer legs behind
Squawking their way to midwestern plains

You can read the full poem in Phil's book, Hawks On High, available locally at Zenith Books and Hawk Ridge.

Here's my own poetic verse in response to a moment in which a young harrier flew by, shimmering in the sun. I asked how they knew it was a harrier youth.

The Harrier Family
Cinnamon on breast, juveniles.
Adult females, brown.
Silvery white underneath, black tips,
that's a dad.

Grey hair, looking skyward,
squinting through binoculars.
That's me.

* * * *
I'm told there are hundreds of such sites around the country where birders gather, keep tabs on migration activities and bird counts. Even if you know nothing, they make you feel welcome. And if you're here in the Twin Ports, Hawk Ridge is a gift you ought to get to know.

FWIW DEPT.
While vacationing in the Black Hills I used my AAA travel book to locate the most scenic of its scenic hiaghways. AAA ranks all the highways in the country with a 1, 2, 3 etc. according to its degree of wonder. Among the list of #1 top highways and byways was our Skyline Drive here in Duluth. Dig it.

Spirits Lifted at the Hawks On High Book Launch

Phil Fitzpatrick shared stories, poems and enthusiasm..

The weather couldn't have been worse, but it didn't really matter. Everywhere I looked spirits were soaring at Phil Fitzpatrick and Penny Perry's book launch for Hawks On High: Everyday Miracles in a Hawk Ridge Season.

A hard rain was falling, and to make matters worse, it was so windy that to use an umbrella was nigh impossible. Add to that the Superior Street construction that made it difficult to figure out how to cross the depression and near muck. As noted, spirits were not dampened, and the musical accompaniment was just what the doctors ordered. Pianist Ryan Frane produced his magic during the first hour of socializing, and Woodblind (Veikko and Jason) lifted hearts in the latter portion. In between, Phil Fitzpatrick thanked oodles of people, told the story of how this project came to be and read several of his poems.

Hawk Ridge director Janelle Long made a few remarks early on, thanking Phil for this book of poems as a tribute to the work there. Janelle said that Phil has been going daily to Hawk Ridge last fall and this fall. Sometimes he even brings pizza for staff.

Hawk Eye by Penny Perry

Penny Perry was Phil's collaborator on this project. If able, you will want to stop in at the Zeitgeist Atrium to see her illustrations and paintings. Phil said her drawings "appeared like magic out of thin air."

Penny said that the biggest challenge was producing illustrations that would coordinate with the shape of the poems. Duluth Poets-Laureate Ellie Schoenfeld and Deb Cooper were the ones who suggested to Phil that he ask her. "Poetry, ink drawings, birds. Oh yeah, that's my wheelhouse." Anyone who has followed Penny Perry's career knows this is so.

For Penny, accuracy was an important part of these drawings. As for all the people who paint and write and make music, she thanks them as well. "You all show up and I appreciate it."

* * * *

And a feather.

Phil then proceeded to read to a packed out room. Having watched Phil perform numerous times over the years, I always come away impressed with his ability to command the room. Phil and Penny's goal was to make Hawk Ridge come alive in all the book's readers. For sure this event will undoubtedly prompt more people from the community to visit this resource again soon.

There's a sense in which the poetry reading reminded me of an artist's talk as he told stories leading into many of the poems, their inspiration or important background information.

The first poem he read was "Peregrine Over Hawk Ridge," which opens the section Dramatis Personae and appears on page 47. It begins:

trackless tracer
record holder
soundless
black bullet-bird
cloud piercer

Now you got me, Phil. I want to see one of these.

We even had a hawk present.

Phil described how some of the poems emerged "from something that blew me completely away." Forget the Binos! was one of these.

"Oh, my God! Dude, look! Up there! And forget the binos!"
you hear yourself say as the wingbeat dream begins; just
lean back: you're under a tsunami of striped boomerangs

You can read the rest of this one from page 77.

People who enjoy poetry get jazzed when poets paint images with phrases and word combinations that create an almost electrical charge in your brain synapses. I would compare it to memorable lines in favorite films, or those unforgettable scenes. A film without memorable lines and scene is 'just a movie." Phil's poems are seasoned with ample quantities of lively imagery.

One of my favorite pastimes as a creative is naming paintings, drawings, poems and stories, and I can tell Phil has taken an equal measure of pleasure titling his poems. Here's a smattering of examples.
Rhetorical Question
Kettle
Peregrine Cam
But Who's Counting
Whiteness, For Instance
The Season's Last Bald
Kaitlyn's Wow
Double Gos Tease
Parallax

In fact, any page you open to will give you morsels to chew slowly and savor.

Souvenirs help support Hawk Ridge research.

* * * *

Peregrine Falcon, Penny Perry

I recently read a bio of Paul McCartney with a really insightful anecdote about the early days of McCartney and Lennon writing songs together. Each day they would come up with several new tunes and songs, but they didn't write them down. They believed that if something they came up with was destined to be memorable, they would remember it the next day. In this manner they separated the wheat from the chaff.

Phil shared this notion in a similar vein. "The good ideas stay, the everyday miracles."

Tip of the hat to Mike Savage of Savage Press for his assistance in bringing all these pieces together.

Phil & Penny's book can be purchased at Hawk Ridge, at Zenith Bookstore, as well as directly from the author and the artist.

Penny Perry illustrations have been scanned by CPL Imaging. To learn more about the services of CPL Imaging visit cplimaging.com

Related Links
Interview with Phil
Interview with Penny Perry
The Name Game
Savage Press

A Visit with Penny Perry: Long Time Arts Advocate and Duluth Art Scene Asset

The quantity of framing galleries in the Twin Ports region is a pretty good indicator that we have a thriving visual arts community here. Yelp lists 16, from the North Shore to Carlton and Superior to Miller Hill Mall. Perry Framing is located right downtown in what has now been designated Duluth's Historic Arts & Theater (HART) District, a couple doors down from the Zeitgeist Cafe.

Proprietor Penny Perry, an artist herself, has served the arts community in a number of capacities. In addition to framing and hanging shows for the Zeitgeist, she's helped our Duluth Dylan Fest hang shows in the Atrium there. She's also served on the Duluth Public Arts Commission (DPAC) and worked with a wide cross-section of artists to give their work its proper presentation.

This past year she's been creating illustrations for Phil Fitzpatrick's book of poems, Hawks on High: Everyday Miracles in a Hawk Ridge Season. With the official book launch next Monday (Details below) it seemed a good time to share a bit of Penny Perry's story.

EN: How long did you serve on DPAC?

Penny Perry: I served during part of the terms of three administrations, Doty, Bergson and Ness.

EN: What are some of the responsibilities of DPAC that people are unaware of?

PP: The mission priorities change with administrations, but it is a voluntary commission tasked with promoting local arts, cataloging and prioritizing the maintenance and preservation of public cultural properties, serving as an advisory board when local 1% for Public Art is applied, and in general, being a resource for the public to communicate arts issues and advocacy.

EN: You've been framing and part of the art community for more than four decades. How would you describe the evolution of our arts community during this period of time?

PP: Subjectively, I think artists used to be more like islands, either individually, by discipline, or even according to related studio spaces. We are fortunate in this community to have strong, involved, practicing artists across many disciplines.

There is a history of collaboration among poets, musicians, dancers, actors and visual artists in Duluth. Some leaders of these collaborative efforts that have inspired me personally are Ellie Schoenfeld, Sara Thomsen, Ann Klefstad, Chris Monroe, Julie Ahasay and Lisa McKhann, to name a few. If you asked ten others to name ten other influential working artists, they could do it in a minute and they would be equally diverse across disciplines. That is the art community I now know and appreciate. You might guess modern communication and social media plays a big part, but still, people have to show up, and they do.

EN: Birds seem to be a recurring theme in your work. How did that begin and what is it that makes birds so endlessly fascinating?

PP: My first truly personal artwork was a colored pencil drawing that included a blackbird and was inspired by Truman Capote's Grass Harp & A tree of Night.

I grew up on a farm and have ridden wooded trails on horseback all my life. My whole family feeds, observes and loves birds. Yet, it is the metaphysical aspects and questions about birds that continue to impose themselves into my work. They are, at once, vulnerable and strong and the magically reliable harbingers of the seasons.

EN: How did you come to be involved with Phil's project?

PP: A little bird named Ellie Schoenfeld suggested it to Phil. I had a show at the Duluth Art Institute at the time, Phil checked it out, and asked me if I would be interested in his project. I thought, “poetry, birds and ink drawings” and couldn't say yes fast enough. We found our collaborative footing quite easily.

EN: What was the most rewarding aspect of this project for you?

PP: I might not even know that yet, but the rewards of bringing this project to fruition were many. It was a great opportunity to be asked to add a layer of imagery to Phil's poems, but, I challenged myself to try and be biologically accurate enough to please birders without losing the underlying wonder of the subjects of the poems. Over the last year and a half I spent a lot of time observing, photographing, researching and finally drawing with the kind of focus that is rare. For an artist, there's nothing better.

* * * *

BOOK LAUNCH DETAILS
The book launch will be at the Zeitgeist Atrium on Monday, September 9 from 5 p.m. until 9 p.m. Ryan Frane will be playing during the reception and art show (5-6), and Woodblind will play from 7-9 after the poetry reading.

Books can be purchased at Hawk Ridge, at Zenith Bookstore, as well as directly from the author and the artist.

* * * *

Hawks on High: Everyday Miracles in a Hawk Ridge Season

Photo credit: Phil Fitzpatrick

First off, the name Hawk Ridge is itself evocative. Hawks, eagles and other raptors are to birds what T-Rex seems to be to the dinosaurs. (I'm talking from a kid's-eye view.) They're majestic, and inspirational.

In Duluth, Hawk Ridge is located at the top of another cool landmark, Seven Bridges Road. It's a beautiful drive up through the trees, criss-crossing Amity Creek seven times as it wends it way up to the skyline. When I first moved to Duluth I just assumed it was just a name. I did not know at that time how this Western rim of Lake Superior had become a historic highway for migrating birds of all kinds, bit especially birds of prey.

Another photo by Phil.

So it is only natural that naturalists would set up a lookout to monitor the traffic, so to speak. The migration South begins in late August and continues through November, but the peak season for bird watching is mid-to-late September during which time tens of thousands of hawks will fly by each day. This also happens to be close to the peak for the autumn colors as trees slip out of their greenery into multi-colored finery, in case you want to plan your next vacation.

I mention all these things by way of introduction to my friend Phil Fitzpatrick's Kickstarter campaign for a book project he has been working on called Hawks on High: Everyday Miracles in a Hawk Ridge Season. It's technically a hybrid art book/poetry book, featuring Phil's poems accompanied by illustration created by Penny Perry.

Phil has been spending a lot of time up on the ridge this fall. I remember Bob Dylan once saying that the power of a song or story comes from unmediated first hand observation. All too often our experiences of the world are not first hand, but rather mediated to us. There's a big difference between a TV show about lions and actually standing in the brush as a pride of lions feasts in front of you. So Phil has been up on the ridge, watching the hawks and eagles flow by. He's been spending his days absorbing the inspiration transmitted by the natural wonder of the view from Hawk Ridge, overlooking our Great Lake.

Penny Perry with one of her delicate illustrations.
Photo by Mikayla Haynes

I still remember the first time I was up on Hawk Ridge with my family when our kids were young. I learned that day about air currents and updrafts. Many of these great birds would spread their wings and glide for miles, and at certain points they would catch an updraft to drift upward as if climbing a spiral staircase. It's quite sensational to see a bald eagle catching the wind, effortlessly making its lazy leisurely way to higher heights.

I once knew a fellow from Duluth here, nicknamed Condor Man, who learned about updrafts and had taken up the hobby of hang-gliding. By means of updrafts he flew, on at least one occasion if not more, to Western North Dakota, a modern-day Icarus.

Phil Fitzpatrick. Photo by Margie Menzies.

A few more words about Phil. He doesn't wear it on his sleeve but he's a Harvard grad. And a fine poet. And a good man. And a long time Dylan fan who had been a big help on the Duluth Dylan Fest team here. When JFK was assassinated, Phil says it was The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan, Dylan's 2nd album with "Hard Rain" and "Blowin' in the Wind" that got him through that first weekend. And not many folks can say they remember seeing Bob in concert when he wasn't the headliner. Phil was there when the young kid from the Northland opened for Del Shannon in Cambridge, 1963.

Phil's got a Kickstarter Campaign going. The project he's working on will be a blessing to many I am certain. CLICK HERE to learn more about the project, but also to see a really good example of how to do a Kickstarter campaign: Hawks on High: Everyday Miracles in a Hawk Ridge Season.

I can't wait to see the finished project. Special thanks to Mike Savage and all the others who have helped Phil make this happen, including you I hope.