Inland Pacific Northwest Raptor Migration 2021's Journal

Journal archives for August 2021

05 August, 2021

July Summary

The first month of this long project has come to a close. It's been a slow year but hopefully we can pick up the pace. Here's the stats for the month of July:

Top 5 Species
Red-tailed Hawk -- 41 obs
Osprey -- 22 obs
Swainson's Hawk -- 16 obs
American Kestrel -- 15 obs
Turkey Vulture -- 14 obs

Total Species Overall: 20

Top 5 Observers (Observation): @andybridges 34 obs, birdwhisperer 33 obs, @cgates326 15 obs, @asemerdj 6 obs and @datadan 5 obs

Top 5 Observers (Species): cgates326 9 species, birdwhisperer 8 species, andybridges 7 species, asemerdj 5 species and datadan 3 species

Species Still Not Observed: White-tailed Kite, Sharp-shinned Hawk, Northern Goshawk, Broad-winged Hawk, Red-shouldered Hawk, Rough-legged Hawk, Western Screech-Owl, Snowy Owl, Northern Hawk-Owl, Barred Owl, Spotted Owl, Northern Saw-whet Owl, Boreal Owl, Merlin, Gyrfalcon -- 15 species

Counties Needing Observations: WA -- Okanogan, Ferry, Benton, Columbia -- OR -- Wasco, Gilliam, Sherman, Morrow, Jefferson, Baker, Lake

News and What to Expect in August:
In the first month of this project, we've got 152 observations which if I have my math current, will make us cut really close to our stats from last year. I know we can do better, especially myself. In the coming days, we will see just about the same things as July but we should be able to get something like Merlin or Sharp-shinned Hawks.

Observation of the week goes to datadan for his photo of a male Swainson's Hawk in Malheur NWR. I can't help but love Swainson's Hawks and I've noticed that the state typically doesn't get these lighter individuals. A majority of these hawks are intermediate or dark morphs west of the Rockies, though I'm not sure why that it is. Anyway, you can see the photo here:

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/89594911

Observation of the month goes to @seymoregulls for photographing a Great Gray Owl besides a lake. These large owls can be found in a majority of open forests in Washington and Oregon. They typically perch high in pine trees whilst looking over green meadows and when they spot their prey, they pounced just like this owl right here:

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/89598627

Posted on 05 August, 2021 04:08 by birdwhisperer birdwhisperer | 0 comments | Leave a comment

12 August, 2021

Fast as a Ford

Yes, I'm a day late on writing the weekly post but yesterday the county first record of a Wandering Tattler was spotted and how could I not go out and spend my evening after work looking for it. Which I did to much strife. Anyway, it's been a slow week and that's saying something. Only 8 new observations were added to the project and when we're suppose to be getting at 30 a week to exceed past our previous years, this is not good news.

The observation of the week goes to @fishaspey for his photo of a male Sharp-shinned Hawk. I particularly like this photo because it shows one key identification feature. Everyone has had a is-it-a-Cooper's-or-Sharp-shinned situation and you always look for a capped look or buggy eyes or big head and all this other stuff. Yet there is one feature that will give you a species id every time without subjective opinions. The color of the underwing coverts. In Cooper's the fleshy part of the underwings is white with red streaks and crossbars. Sharp-shinned have black streaks and crossbars, which Scott's bird clearly shows as it contrasts with the rufous underparts. You can see the photo here and you can use it to identify your Accipiters:

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/90851623

I will say this to those participating in the project, we are experiencing a little heat burst after a few cool days but I suspect we're on the tail end of this summer season. Keep your eyes open as raptors will not be anywhere and everywhere, a perfect time for photography. Let's make up for a slow week!

Posted on 12 August, 2021 15:15 by birdwhisperer birdwhisperer | 0 comments | Leave a comment

19 August, 2021

Going Off-Grid

Another belated weekly post but this week I've been camping and enjoying the outdoors. It's just I don't have the luxury of getting the whole week off like the rest of my family, so I'm writing this post before I go into work. This seems to be the week of feathers as we add 20 more observations to the project, still below what I want but better than last week.

The observation of the week goes to @eraskin for his fantastic photo of an adult Bald Eagle from the Okanagan region. This county is fantastic for raptors because it's final stretch of lowlands separating the Cascades and the Rocky Mountains. Geographically, the Okanagan valley and adjacent mountains is the spot for many vagrant "eastern" species who's ranges end along the Alberta Rockies. If said vagrants jump a mountain pass, they are bound to be funneled into this region. This area is also where I suspect nearly all western US Broad-winged Hawks come from as they have to decide whether to follow the Cascades down south or the Rocky Mountains. Though Bald Eagles are residential birds, they take advantage of this fantastic area. You can see the photo here:

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/91271762

We need a couple more sightings per week birders. I will try hard to get photos when I get back to the campground after work but our local goshawk is being very uncooperative. Also my focus has been on the local crossbills in the area as I try recording my life Type 4 (Douglas-Fir) Crossbills as often as possible. I will be taking a hike tomorrow up high into the Wallowa Mountains so who knows what kind of raptors will show up. Good luck to you all!

Posted on 19 August, 2021 18:02 by birdwhisperer birdwhisperer | 0 comments | Leave a comment

26 August, 2021

Hoot-tastic Week

This was a great week as we boosted over 42 observations during the week. This is well over the weekly goal and I hope we continue the good work. We also obtained two new species over the week, the Barred Owl and Northern Saw-whet Owl.

The observation of the week goes to @jennifer_graevell for giving us the first observation of the Barred Owl from Wenatchee. Though this species of owl lives in various locations across the project's perimeters, seeing them seems to be significantly harder than those residing in the western part of the states. In other words, I congratulate Jennifer for seeing this owl and getting a photo. Good job!

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/92320707

This is the last week of August and thus an end to the first segment of the project. When September comes, we need to start looking for Broad-winged Hawks along mountain ridges like the Cascades, Blue Mountains or Steens. They're there, you just have to look for them. Have a good week and good luck hawk watching.

Posted on 26 August, 2021 03:04 by birdwhisperer birdwhisperer | 0 comments | Leave a comment