Yesterday Mike Golden and Chris Scranton assisted me in running the
Redmond/Terrebonne survey in springlike conditions racking up the second
highest count in this route's history with 232 raptors. Fully expecting a
big drop in numbers from December's record of 268 birds I was once again
amazed by the short section of fields along Lower Bridge Way where we
counted 95 birds at four stops. This is the fourth year in a row this area
has produced a seemingly limitless supply of micotines for reasons I just
can't fathom. I continue to be perplexed by this phenomena but oh well,
some mysteries are better savored than solved. Curious, are other Central
Oregon raptor runners noticing an ongoing dearth of Northern Harriers or is
it just anecdotal for this route? Right after Chris's early departure Mike
and I scored the bird of the day, an Alpomado Falcon but I'm not even going
to mention it as that would be hurtful and what would be the point. 47
miles in 4.5 hours and as Yogi Berra said, "Sometimes you can observe a lot
just by looking".
197 Red-tailed Hawk (210 last month and 178 in November)
15 American Kestrel
4 Bald Eagle (all adults including the Smith Rock pair side by side
spotted a mile west of the park)
1 Golden Eagle (the male of the Smith Rock pair soaring near their
many nests)
11 Rough-legged Hawk (down from 16 in December and November)
2 Prairie Falcon
1 Cooper's Hawk
1 Unidentified buteo
David Vick
Terrebonne
