Hanging Rock Raptor Observatory

05/08/2026

04/21/2026

We will have a display here.

We are SO excited for our Annual Earth Day Celebration coming up on Saturday, April 25th from 1–6 PM! 🌎💚
We’ve got an amazing day planned and can’t wait to spend it with all of you!

✨ A quick update to our food truck lineup:
We are so excited to welcome The Hanna Farmstead for the very first time at the winery! They will be mixing up their custom drinks as well as serving ice cream! Along with them, Mister Crabs Catering & Boil Truck and Sixpence Pizza will be here serving up their delicious food we all love! 🍕🦀
Here’s just a little of what you can expect:
🌿 15+ handmade & artisan vendors (think homemade syrups, handmade brooms, woodworking, local honey, quilted items, personalized spoon rings, jewelry & more!)
👕 A FREE clothing swap! Bring gently used, clean items to trade (check out our earlier post for more information!)
📚 Used book sale by donation
🌎 Local environmental info & resources
🍷 All your favorite OWL libations

This is a family-friendly event and a great way to spend the day supporting local, reducing waste, and celebrating our beautiful community 💫

We can’t wait to see you there! Make sure to bring your friends and family out to help us celebrate! 🌎🌞🌷🌳🐾

04/13/2026

03/24/2026

Back for another season - Skatutakee!

Skatutakee is one of our longest tracked broadwings in our study. She was trapped and banded in June 2022 and has continued to amaze us with her migratory movements.

Each year Skatutakee leaves her breeding territory (in July-early August) and heads north to Québec, Canada. She spends a few weeks in the region before departing for autumn migration.

The map shows the last four autumn migrations including Skatutakee's movements from her nest site in New Hampshire, USA to her post-breeding grounds in Québec, Canada and down into her wintering area in Bolivia and Peru.

➡️ In 2022, she initiated autumn migration on 14 September and arrived in Tujuhahuíra, Bolivia on 12 November.

➡️ In 2023, she left on 13 September and settled farther north in Inca, Peru by 19 November.

➡️ In 2024, she flew south on 11 September and arrived in Cascajo, Bolivia (a little later than usual) on 8 December.

➡️ In 2025, she started her migration from Québec on 12 September and by 12 November she settled in a new wintering site in Suapi, Bolivia.

02/20/2026

Hi Folks,

This mid-winter update on the Hanging Rock Raptor Observatory project comes to you from the small group of volunteers who have been working diligently over many months to coordinate the rehabilitation and re-opening of this most unique and beloved facility on Peters Mountain. We’ll begin this report with a word of thanks to those of you who have expressed your support for our efforts via financial contributions, offers of assistance, and strong words of encouragement.

In spite of delays due to the holidays and winter weather, our team has met several times since last fall in Monroe County and elsewhere. Some on-site evaluation work has also been performed on the mountain to assess the structural integrity of the tower as well as potential emergency access routes that will be used for the construction work. Participants in those site visits have included professional engineers and architects, trail construction designers, building contractors, project administrators, and wildlife experts.

All of this effort is focused on developing a formal Scope of Work, Timetable, and Budget for the project. We have also been in direct contact with a variety of private funding sources who have expressed interest in providing significant challenge grants that will allow us to leverage the nearly $20,000 that has been contributed over the past year via a simple grass-roots effort.

It’s important to note that we are coordinating all of this due diligence with the staff of the Eastern Divide Ranger Office for the Jefferson/George Washington National Forest in Blacksburg. We are especially grateful for the high level of cooperation we have received from the Forest Service staff in that office.

To recap, while there may not have been much in the way of announced results in recent months, a lot of work has been taking place. We intend to provide a more detailed update in early spring once we get locked in on some of the funding and construction-related deadlines.

12/25/2025

Our volunteers want to wish everyone a happy holiday season. It’s been a trying year in a lot of respects, but we are still doing all we can do to make next year better.

12/05/2025

Slow day for Charlie count wise, but a beautiful day as well.

11/23/2025

Brian, Pete and Lynn hung in there on a very windy day and were rewarded with 11 goldens.

11/14/2025

It has been a slow year mostly. Charlie finally had a decent day.

11/11/2025

From Brian: Red-tail vs. Vernon the plastic owl.

This guy just knew he had this owl but after realizing it was fake he looked back at me like it was my fault he was duped.

11/04/2025

Photos from the Kevin Riedel memorial hike.