Check out www.dineoutforthegulfcoast.org for participating restaurants in your area. Everything we can do helps.

1. Put up a bird box and see who takes up residence.
2. Leave a dead tree or snag standing on your farm or property.
3. Keep your cat indoors.
4. Plant native plants – bird habitat, at home.
5. Use less plastic.
6. Take your own bags to the supermarket.
7. Volunteer for a beach clean-up event, or just go down there by yourself and pick up some trash.
8. Don’t use pesticides or herbicides in your garden.
9. Cut up plastic 6-pack soda rings.
10. Maintain a clean bird feeder.

You can review and share more Earth Day tips at California Audubon’s website.

Tyson & Stephanie with Burning Hawk red wines purchased at Valley Ford Market

Yesterday we delivered the first shipment of Burning Hawk to the market and as we were placing the wines on the shelf  Tyson and Stephanie from Chico walked by and struck up a conversation. Soon they became interested in the wines and our mission. Here is a picture of Stephanie and Tyson with their very own bottles of Burning Hawk, the Napa Valley Red ($30) and the North Coast Zin ($15). We are hopeful that they enjoyed their weekend on the coast, saw a few raptors and will someday write in to let us know their thoughts on the wines.

For those of you wildlife and raptor lovers what is also so special about the area around Valley Ford is that the birds of prey are flourishing.  On sunny days you have a great chance of spotting Turkey Vultures, Hawks, Golden Eagles, Peregrine Falcons and many other species. Our friend the great photographer Nick Dunlop spends a great deal of time out in this area and if you visit his website you can get a glimpse of the birds that inhabit the area. FYI: just over the hill in the towns of Bodega and Bodega Bay is where good old Alfred Hitchcock filmed “The Birds”.

For those of you who enjoy kayaking and boating there is the Estero Americano , Tomales Bay and Bodega Bay, all great locations for water activities as well as bird watching. All of these locations  offer breathtaking scenery and the perfect environment for adventures with your friends, family and loved ones.    For those of you looking for birdwatching resources and guidance you can spend some time on the website of the Madrone Audubon Society.

We offer our thanks to Valley Ford Market as well as Tyson and Stephanie for being customers of Burning Hawk Wines and hope you will someday choose to spend some time out in Valley Ford and the surrounding areas.

We have a burning issue here at Burning Hawk Wines, one of utmost, critical and major strategic importance….and that is the dilemma of which T-Shirt color to choose ?

Yes, like many brands we are making the leap into the realm of chotskes (except these are philanthropic chotskes). We will start by getting some shirts made for our fans and provide an additional product to raise awareness of our wine brand and funds for the conservation projects we support .

Eventually we will have multiple options but for our first low budget run of shirts we need to pick one.  Can you please give us your feedback by letting us know which color RED or BLUE you prefer?

We value your input and the first 5 to respond will recieve a shirt although it might not be your favorite color

• Sipping for Sakers
• Buy Affordable, New Wines
• Get Your Tail to the Rio Grande Valley Birding Festival
• Golden Eagle Released!
• Burning Hawk Helps Yuba County
• Progress Made on Raptor Landfill Problem
• Get Your Stomp On!

We hope you  enjoy the read. Thank you for your involvement in Burning Hawk Wines.

All the  best,

Team Burning Hawk

Today, in collaboration with the conservation bloggers at Bird Freakwe have launched “Sipping for Sakers” an awareness-building and fundraising effort. 

For the month of October we are highlighting the important work of biologist Rick Harness and colleagues who are on a mission to save the endangered Saker Falcon in Mongolia. Rick and Co. have identified that powerline electrocutions are one of the major threats to these amazing hunters. The Saker Falcon’s population  is less than 10,000 so action needs to be taken to retrofit and reconfigure the power poles. 

Supporting Rick’s Save the Saker Project in Mongolia: either by purchasing Burning Hawk Wines (note, we have released our new selection  of wines), spreading the word about this effort to your friends,  or making a direct contribution to Rick’s project via the Rocky Mountain Raptor Program. Everything you need to know can be read at Bird Freak.

A little over a year ago we started Burning Hawk Wines after a red-tailed hawk was electrocuted in Windsor, California and started a fire in a grape vineyard. And now, thanks to your participation and purchases this cause-focused business has the ability to make a difference whereever threats to birds exist, including the  Mongolian Steppe.

Thank you.

Calfire tanker drops fire retardant over the Yuba Fire Saturday. Photo by CalFire / Wes Shultz

The fire’s cause has been identified as a red tailed hawk  electrocuted in the powerlines. Please see Dry Winds, Heat Fan Wildfires Across California

That fire, which was ignited by burning feathers from a red-tailed hawk that flew into a power line, was more than 15 percent contained, but about 600 homes were still threatened Sunday. Voluntary evacuations remain in effect for parts of the community…The Colgate Powerhouse — the oldest powerhouse in the state — and two others were powered down, along with four major power lines. Together, they produce 300 Megawatts of power for the area…About 1,385 fire personnel are in the area fighting that blaze, though the steep, rough terrain made their work difficult

This problem, technical termed  “Avian Powerline Interaction,” remains a largely unknown issue outside  of the scientific, regulatory and energy utility community. But it is one which as you read has a major toll: costly power outages, fires, risk to human life and communities; wildlife injury or death.  At the time of writing the costs of fighting this one blaze were calculated to be $1.8 million.

Many utilities, PG&E being one of them, have programs in place to prevent and respond to this problem. Please read: PG&E Renews Avian Protection and Recieves  Audubon’s First Ever Corporate Achievement Award & Avian Protection Plan . You can also visit www.aplic.org to learn more.

But in reading these documents a few questions emerge. As  of 2007, PG&E had retrofitted and made “Bird Safe” over 12,000 power poles, obviously a substantial investment and effort. But how many power polesof line out of their 70,000 square mile grid and service area does this represent? It would also be interesting to see the PG&E analysis and mapping that highlights the risk zones where migratory birds, fire fuel load and the power grid overlap. And with this mapping, how much work remains and how much would that work be estimated to cost?

We wish the communities impacted by this fire a speedy recovery, extend our thanks to the fire fighting personnel tackling this blaze as well as the utilities and conservation groups working to eliminate this problem in the first place.

Here is an article in the Billings Gazette reminding all of us that this issue is still massive, impacting our energy system and most valued birds of prey.

http://www.billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/wyoming/article_d9fc9894-6e94-11de-8937-001cc4c03286.html

Since the early days of the Burning Hawk wine initiative we have developed a great deal of respect for The Hungry Owl Project and their work to protect birds of prey and other avian friends by showing people that these birds can be effective pest control partners.

Based in San Anselmo and working under the auspices of Wildcare, the Hungry Owl Project team is on a mission to:

“…reduce the need for harmful pesticides & rodenticides by encouraging natural predators, through conservation of habitat, erecting nest boxes when appropriate, through research & education, and by providing a resource of help and information on alternative methods of sustainable pest management.”

Please take some time to completely read the HOP website at www.hungryowl.org. It is such an inspiring and educational experience.

Like our farmers and winemakers at Windsor Vineyards and Burning Hawk, The HOP team knows the value of having birds of prey and avian predators in our communities and agricultural landscapes. Predatory birds such as owls, hawks, falcons and even blue birds eat the same insects and rodents that cause problems for farmers, grape growers and land managers. To eradicate these pests, many farmers have for decades developed the habit of using costly, and many times toxic, pesticides, herbicides and rodenticides. But in many cases there are more natural alternatives that do just as good of a job and also deliver additional benefits. If we welcome back birds of prey into our landscapes as part of our overall Integrated Pest Management (IPM) programs we can help boost their populations, expand their habitat and bring them onto our team as partners in pest control. Air and water quality will be improved for our neighborhoods and communities and at the end of the day farmers and land managers might be able to save a bit of money too!

The Hungry Owl Project is growing as a restorative force to be reckoned with here in our community. We are glad to team up with HOP and lend a hand as have so many others.

So in addition to directly supporting and funding their work, for the next 6 weeks you can also purchase Burning Hawk wines with the knowledge that 10% of your purchase will fund The Hungry Owl Project.

We also look forward to tracking the progress of the Golden Eagle in the RMRP’s care. This eagle, which like our original hawk was electrocuted by powerlines, has made remarkable progress. There is a good chance that it will be released this summer to fly again in the future. But the injuries and trauma it has experienced have been great and it is not out of the woods (or back into the woods) yet.