Thur. 3/17 I joined Lowell Franks on his Fort Rock Raptor Survey route. We
drove 78 miles under alternating clear skies and heavy fog with temperatures
ranging from between 22 and 50 degrees. The day started out with a herd of
200+ elk 2 miles west of Ft. Rock SP on the Cow Cave Rd. It was after 9:00 by
the time we got to the Ft. Rock lek and people were in the field so we saw no
Sage Grouse. As we drove through the route, we kept running into bands of
thick fog which limited our distance sightings. The fog was off and on all
morning. Three of the Great-horned Owls were sitting on nests as were 4
Red-tailed Hawks we counted. Horned Larks were scattered all over the basin
and a few were performing their mating flights. This looks like it is the year
of the Jackrabbits and I saw more live Jackrabbits than I have ever seen during
a single day. It should be a good year for raising Golden Eagle chicks.
Here is our raptor count: down quite a bit from last month.
Red-tailed Hawk --------------- 36
American Kestrel -------------- 1
Northern Harrier -------------- 2
Bald Eagle -------------------- 7A
Golden Eagle ------------------ 4
Rough-legged Hawk ------------- 12
Ferruginous Hawk -------------- 6
Prairie Falcon ---------------- 2
Turkey Vulture ---------------- 4
Great Horned Owl -------------- 4
Total ------------------------- 78
Kim Boddie
Bend
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