October Summary
Very belated month summary but that's because I forgot. Anyway, the month's report and the weekly report will be below.
Top 5 Species (October):
Red-tailed Hawk -- 31 obs
American Kestrel -- 9 obs (returns to Top 5)
Sharp-shinned Hawk -- 8 obs (new to Top 5)
Bald Eagle -- 7 obs (new to Top 5)
Merlin -- 6 obs (new to Top 5)
Top 5 Species (Overall):
Red-tailed Hawk -- 145 obs
Swainson's Hawk -- 62 obs
Osprey -- 59 obs
Great Horned Owl -- 36 obs (+1 spot)
American Kestrel -- 35 obs (new to Top 5)
Total Species Overall: 27
Top 5 Observers (Observations): birdwhisperer 144 obs, @cgates326 43 obs, @masonmaron 33 obs, @uta_stansburiana 19 obs and @josegarrido 18 obs
Top 5 Observers (Species): birdwhisperer 17 species, cgates326 13 species, uta_stansburiana 11 species, masonmaron 10 species and @brodiecasstalbott 8 species
Species Still Not Observed: White-tailed Kite, Snowy Owl, Northern Hawk-Owl, Spotted Owl, Short-eared Owl, Boreal Owl, Northern Saw-whet and Gyrfalcon -- 8 species
New Species in October: Rough-legged Hawk
Counties Needing Observations: Washington -- Ferry, Klickitat and Columbia -- Oregon -- Morrow and Wheeler
News and What to Expect in November: That's the month, we tagged on our expected addition of the Rough-legged Hawk and if this year is anything like last year, the observation counts will skyrocket with this arctic Buteo. We still have 5 counties lacking any raptor sightings whatsoever but in all fairness, I drove through 3 of them two weeks ago. We'll see how it goes.
We are closing in on the last two months of the year and though this year may have been crummy, I sense that a lot of birders had more opportunities to go out and do what they love. Let's keep the observations pouring in and if can, find a few owls. We'll probably miss the White-tailed Kite for the project but there's only two overall sightings within the project's perimeters anyway, so it was a long shot. But we can totally get the Northern Hawk-Owl or saw-whet.
Observation of the month goes to @doughenderson11 for his photo of a Northern Pygmy-Owl lunch. I really liked this photo because it really gives us a perspective on just how small these owls are, they aren't called pygmy-owls for nothing. It's prey, a deer mouse if I were to hazard a guess, is nearly the same size as this 6 inch owl. The pygmy-owl also holds the placement of being our project's smallest raptor. We should see more sightings of these guys as winter progresses. See the observation here:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/63734872
Observation of the week goes to cgates326 for his Western Red-tailed Hawk by his ramshackle nest. Raptorial species that are residents, such as Red-tails and Bald Eagles, tend to stay in the vicinity of their nest and will continue to repair it throughout the winter to make sure it's in tip top shape when spring comes around. Link to that observation here:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/64021011
And that is it hawkwatchers, good luck to whatever birding you do during the month.
תגובות
הוספת תגובה