יומן של Inland Pacific Northwest Raptor Migration 2020

ארכיון יומן של יולי 2020

יולי 9, 2020

First Week

Hello birders, we are now officially a week into the 2020 Inland Pacific Northwest Raptor Migration. Since I believe those who attended last year enjoyed it, I've created a new project for this year's migration. Sure, it's July, isn't it a little early for migration? Well, I saw Western Sandpipers yesterday, not exactly the same type of bird but you can never be too cautious when it comes to nomadic raptors. This post is going to accomplish this things. Those who've automatically had their observations submitted to the project because it fit the perimeters, I'm assuming you're residential birders in the area due to Covid-19. So if you wish to join the project because you find it interesting, awesome! I'll submit a post weekly where I choose my favorite photo submitted for the week or maybe comment on a cool sighting. Here's the list of people who've had their sighting automatically added to the project. @kenchamberlain @hcaldeira @josegarrido @jeilers @cgates326 @stephstrag @the-catfish @salamandertrav As a brief recap on the project's purpose, it is to photograph every raptor (Cathartiformes, Accipitriformes, Falconiformes, Strigiformes) between the Cascades eastern slope to the western Idaho border. In a nutshell that means the Columbia River Basin in Washington and the central Oregon mountain ranges. I'm wondering if this year, we can grab all 35 possible raptorial species in these locations, even including the slim chance a White-tailed Kite might show up. I'm using this information to also determine population of each species and perhaps shade some light on Red-tailed Hawk variation. This year, I'll also try and keep up the photo of the week for the project. From the short list of 15 observations over the week, I particularly like cgates326's female Swainson's Hawk sighted in Gilliam County, Oregon on the 4th. https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/52114177 I believe some honorable mentions includes kenchamberlain's Northern Pygmy-Owl and not to pat myself on the back, I thought baby osprey were pretty cool but photo quality is crummy. So if you read through this, I'm happy that someone is interested. Let's see what other cool raptors we can see this month. PS - This is a message for those who happen to live on the west side of the state. I do know last year @chrisleearm created a branch-off project based on this for that particularly side of the state. I don't know if he's doing it this year, which is why I tagged him but hopefully it all works out. Thanks again!
הועלה ב-יולי 9, 2020 05:01 לפנה"צ על ידי birdwhisperer birdwhisperer | 3 תגובות | הוספת תגובה

יולי 15, 2020

Raptorwatching July

The second week has passed for the project so I'll go over what happened over the week and announce the observation I enjoyed the most. Well, one slow week turns into two and this project officially only has 28 observations. I have come up with two theories that might explain the lack of raptors being spotted. One, raptors might be getting harder to find because it's the breeding season. I suspect that once August comes around, we'll see a spike in numbers. Theory number two is, July has been proven to be the least birding month by citizen science and nobody is going out to see birds. So I suggest if you happen to read this post, go out birding more often in July.

I will mention with pride though, three new species have been spotted during the week. These three species are the Cooper's Hawk, Barred Owl and Flammulated Owl. And I believe that's the cue for mentioning the observation of the week for the project. Five days ago, @stephstrag photographed a female Flammulated Owl that was sitting on two eggs. There's several reasons why I chose this as the observation for the week. One, these are put-in-the-field-guide-now kind of photos. Two, last year's project failed to obtain any observations of a Flammulated Owl so I think some recognition of a hard to find species is in order. You can find the observation here:

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/52620530

I now feel like talking about the Flammulated Owl. Though it's an incredibly hard species to find, it is believed to be much more common than most think. They prefer to breed in open pine forests, especially ponderosa forests, in dry areas. That makes pretty much all of eastern Oregon more than ideal habitat this species. I've heard Flammulated Owls only a hand full of times but I can't say they do justice for actually seeing them. My method of finding them, go at night in suitable habitat and listen. I generally do these owling trips between midnight and sunrise, so you mortal people might encounter seem issues. :) So long and good birding!

הועלה ב-יולי 15, 2020 08:21 אחה"צ על ידי birdwhisperer birdwhisperer | תגובה 1 | הוספת תגובה

יולי 22, 2020

Summer Heat

Things are really starting to heat up on IPNRM as summer is blasting its will upon us. This week, we almost doubled the amount of observations comparative to the first two weeks on the project. As a short summary, there are now 48 photographed raptors, covering over fifteen species. Three of these species are new, including the Prairie Falcon and Northern Goshawk. The third species will be discussed later. This spike in observations is awesome and I hope it holds up.

This week's observation of the week goes to @traskcolby for a fantastic shot of a juvenile Red-shouldered Hawk. Guess where it was found, where every other eastern Oregon rarity shows up, Malheur NWR Headquarters. This sighting is sending me vibes that this year will be a good interruption for Red-shouldered Hawks on the project. Last year, we got an astounding five sightings of this species, two of which being my sighting of the first Wallowa County record of the species. I also know in January, outside of the project's date range, another RSHA was in Union County. I believe under watchful eyes, we can find more this year. Trask's sighting is below. Good birding hawkwatchers!

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/53404122

הועלה ב-יולי 22, 2020 08:08 אחה"צ על ידי birdwhisperer birdwhisperer | 0 תגובות | הוספת תגובה

יולי 30, 2020

Ending July

Though we still have two days left in July, I do these posts weekly. It was a great week even though in my area, it was in the high 90's making it unbearable to do anything unless you're car birding with a nice A/C. But on the contrary, car birding is the best birding for hawks, so maybe you didn't encounter problems with the heat.

As I said, this was a fantastic week for IPNRM as we are just under 100 observations in just our first month of the project. Keep the good work going and we can have 600 observations by the end of the project but let's make a goal. How about a thousand observations? If you're up for the challenge, just photograph raptors (hawks, eagles, owls, vultures, etc) for the next five months.

New species being added to the list this week includes the Long-eared Owl and the other species is the observation for the week. Without further adieu, I deem the observation of the week goes to @flammulated for his fantastic image of some Burrowing Owls in Harney County, Oregon. These are probably one of my favorite owls and to say the least, I envy the observation since I've seen these owls in every state I've birded in... but Oregon. And I live this state... It seems to be a known spot for the species so it's like why can't I just take the four hour drive down. Maybe if my birding companion wasn't an essential worker! XD You can see the observation here:

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/54362367

Fair warning, though August is just around the corner, I'm going to make a whole separate post summarizing the month along an observation for the month, that'll be different from the week spotlights. So stay tuned the next couple days. Good birding everyone!

הועלה ב-יולי 30, 2020 04:11 לפנה"צ על ידי birdwhisperer birdwhisperer | 0 תגובות | הוספת תגובה