The Annual SRK Greenway Meeting will be held at Our Lady of Fatima Church in New London, on Sunday, March 12. Dr. Nick Baer, Chair of Natural Sciences at Colby-Sawyer College, will present a slideshow program on Birds of Prey exploring the incredible diversity of raptors in New England.

Nick’s talk highlights characteristics of local hawks and other birds of prey to help attendees learn to identify these fascinating creatures and teach where and when to look for them. He will also explain the varied behaviors and survivorship strategies of these hunters of the sky, from huge Bald Eagles to the much smaller American Kestrel.

Nick’s interest in hawks began more than 20 years ago when he first volunteered to help with a bird banding project. As he walked out in the field he saw someone holding two peregrine falcons while another falcon was being removed from a net. Nick remembers telling the other participants, “I don’t know what you are doing, but I want to be part of this for the rest of my life.”

Indeed, he has been volunteering at the Cape May Raptor Banding Project Inc. since then, banding birds every fall during the migration to learn more about their populations. Most recently, he has been working with his students at Colby-Sawyer College to study how these birds may transport West Nile Virus and other pathogens during their migrations to other regions.

Please come! This event is free and open to the public. It all starts with a potluck supper at 5 PM in the lower level of the Lady Fatima Church in New London, New Hampshire.

Jean LaChance has volunteered to organize the dinner so please call her (927-4345) sooner, rather than later, to let her know what you would like to contribute.

There will be a brief business meeting after dinner followed by the Birds of Prey discussion. If you are only coming for the presentation, plan to arrive about 6:30 PM.

For more information about the all-volunteer organization visit the SRK Greenway Web site at srkg.org.