I ran my Lake Billy Chinook Survey today under overcast and skies with
occasional light snow. Numbers were on the low side. Perhaps the highlight
of the route was that there were only 8 cars on my entire route. Here are
the birds that I recorded:
Red-tailed Hawk 36
American Kestrel 13
Northern Harrier 1
Bald Eagle 3 all adults
Golden Eagle 1 adult
Rough-legged Hawk 1
Prairie Falcon 2
The total of 57 birds is the third lowest I've had for December. It makes
me curious as to why some surveys (like Kevin Smith's and mine in the Culver
area) were so low this month while others like in Christmas Valley, Powell
Butte and Prineville were so high.
Tom Crabtree, Bend
