One Snow Goose was at the Kirtland ponds yesterday (Nov. 28), associating
with a large flock of Canada Geese. Several Cackling Geese and a few
Greater White-fronted Geese were also in the group. I guess that's a Full
Goose House if you're playing Waterfowl Poker.
The stop at Kirtland was a brief interlude in the Medford Raptor Run that I
did with Karen Hussey, Cecile Shohet and John Matthews. And it was a
surprisingly productive day.
We spotted one Ferruginous Hawk and one Rough-legged Hawk, and, judging by
the number of recent reports of these two species from other local
observers, this could be a good season for our rarer Buteos. The
Ferruginous was in Sam's Valley, about a quarter mile east of the Old Sam's
Valley Highway/Ramsey Road intersection. It afforded great views while
"posing" in bright sunlight. The Rough-legged was close to the east side
of Foothill Road about a quarter-mile south of the Foothill/Corey Road
intersection.
No surprise that Red-tailed Hawks topped the raptor count, and the total of
89 was almost double the number seen on the November count last year.
Highest RTHA total during any count last season was 71. Perfect weather
and visibility this year definitely played a role in the results.
Sighting of four White-tailed Kites was encouraging, as last season there
were none seen on any of the first three (Nov.-Jan.) Raptor Runs.
Falcons were well represented on our count. In addition to the 22 American
Kestrels, we saw three Prairie Falcons, two Peregrine Falcons, and three
Merlins.
Our first two Kites were hunting a field south of Campbell Road, and on the
other side of the road were our two Peregrines perched near the top of a
the multi-story radio tower. Even in a scope, the birds were so far up
they looked Kestrel-sized. They launched from the tower for a hunting
foray while we were there, and one of them very quickly snagged a Varied
Thrush and returned to the top of a nearby pole with its prey. What
ensued, in full view of our scopes, was a crystal-clear demonstration of
the urgency of deep hunger on an icy cold morning.
Other raptor sightings during the 100-mile count were four Northern
Harriers, three Bald Eagles, one Cooper's Hawk and one Sharp-shinned Hawk.
While at Kirtland, we had brief looks at a Shrike in the front cell. It
was probably a Northern, but it pulled a typical Shrikish disappearing act
before we could confirm the ID.
Jeff Tufts
Medford
