Today's raptors really challenged us, flying so high we had kinks in our
necks from trying to keep our eyes on the birds flying over us. To add to
the challenge several birds flew south until they just reached our survey
spot then turned and headed back north! Those frustrating teases included 2
Peregrine Falcons, a Goshawk, an adult Bald Eagle, an immature Bald Eagle,
and a Golden Eagle. It was an extra challenging, but fun day! But,
beautiful weather and a great crew of dedicated observers helped to end
this year's Raptor Migration Count successfully with 1,166 total migrating
raptors counted.
Here are today's numbers:
Total migrating raptors: 142
Total species: 10
Total observers: 10
Osprey - 2
Bald Eagle - 5
Northern Harrier - 1
Sharp-shinned Hawk - 67
Cooper's Hawk - 26
Red-tailed hawk - 25
Golden Eagle - 2
Merlin - 4
Prairie Falcon - 1
Unidentified Accipiter - 4
Unidentified Raptor - 5
Other non-migrating species seen or heard included the following:
Peregrine Falcons (2)
Red Crossbills
Stellar's Jay
Black-backed Woodpeckers
Pine Siskins
Pileated Woodpecker
Raven
Purple Finch
Evening Grosbeak
Band-tailed Pigeon
Golden-crowned Kinglet
Today's observers were Peter Low, Judy Meredith, Cathy Beck, David
Braunschweiger, Kimberly Cullen, Patrick Morgan, Nancy Esperancilla, Satch
Esperancilla, and Bob Wilkinson.
Leanna Taylor
Project Coordinator for the Green Ridge Raptor Migration Count
East Cascades Audubon Society
ecaudubon.org
