[obol] Lake Billy Chinook Raptor Survey
- From: "Tom Crabtree" <tc@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <obol@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>, "'COBOL'" <cobol@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 23 Dec 2013 13:52:25 -0800
I ran the December Lake Billy Chinook Raptor Survey on Saturday in
unseasonably balmy conditions. The temperature ranged from 44 to 57
degrees. Not bad for the winter solstice along the 45th parallel. Species
variety was the best I have had with 9 species present. Numbers were down
to slightly more than half of what I had on the last day of November. A
major reason for this, I suspect, is that in the intervening three weeks a
large number of fields were plowed under that supported a lot of hawks in
November. As an example, one road segment in November held 10 Red-tails, 4
Kestrels, 7 Harriers, 2 Rough-legs and a Merlin this time around had 3
Red-tails, 1 Harlan's, 1 Kestrel and 1 Harrier. Raptors aren't going to
find much to eat in dirt clumps.
Another interesting aspect of this count was watching birds move through the
Crooked River Gorge. Typically when I see them they are either at eye level
or soaring above the canyon. This time they were all along the water's edge
moving from tree to tree. I've never seen that before.
Here's the total inventory for the day:
Red-tailed Hawk 38
Harlan's Hawk 1
Rough-legged Hawk 8
Northern Harrier 8
American Kestrel 6
Prairie Falcon 1
Merlin 1
Golden Eagle 1
Cooper's Hawk 1
Sharp-shinned Hawk 1
Total Birds 66
Total Route Miles 30.9
Tom Crabtree
Other related posts:
