Chapter Meeting – January 2024

CHAPTER MEETING

Tuesday, January 23, 2024

7:00 PM

Lions Field House – 270 Elkhorn Road (Hwy 67), Williams Bay, WI

Featuring the following educational talk:

Wintering Raptors of Wisconsin and Illinois 

By Vic Berardi

Vic Berardi, founder of the all volunteer Illinois Beach State Park Hawkwatch and well known raptor photographer, will discuss wintering raptors of Wisconsin and neighboring Illinois. Emphasis will be raptor descriptions and possible locations to find these birds in the winter months. Vic spends a great deal of time in the winter searching for raptors and photographing them. His photographs have been used by several conservation organizations and in raptor field guides. He is also the Chair of the Winter Raptor Survey program for the Hawk Migration Association of North America (HMANA) and has been conducting a survey the past few winters in southeastern Wisconsin.

About the speaker:

Vic Berardi is the founder of the all-volunteer Illinois Beach State Park Hawk Watch which has conducted twenty-four complete seasons of full time hawk migration monitoring which began in the fall of the year 2000. In 2013, he and a few others conducted several spot counts at a new hawkwatch site at the Fort Sheridan Forest Preserve on the shore of Lake Michigan in Highland Park, IL. The Fort Sheridan Hawkwatch has now completed seven seasons of hawk watching and is now close to having full time coverage.

Vic is currently serving on the Board of Directors for the Hawk Migration Association of North America (HMANA), a position he previously held several years ago. He also serves on several HMANA Committees including being the Chair of the Winter Raptor Survey Committee. He also served for several years as the Central Continental Flyway Editor for Hawk Migration Studies which is HMANA’s biannual publication. In 2014 he was the recipient of HMANA’s Appreciation Award for his outstanding service to further hawk migration studies and conservation. In 2009 he was awarded the Service to Chicago Area Birders by the Chicago Audubon Society. And in 2007 he was awarded the Grassroots Conservation Leadership Award for his leadership in raptor education and research.