The Eagles take the day! 

The total mileage on this survey route is 112 miles. We actually drove over 135 miles because we really wanted to find a Snowy Owl! So we took a couple detours to go to places where they had been spotted in the last day or two (reported on eBird). We did find one Snowy, east of the Atkins Lake area, but he was a million miles away! Maybe next month will be better!

We did see Bald Eagles! We spotted four on our route and two additional ones while driving to the starting point. That’s quite a number for that area!

I still can’t help but wonder if our reduction in raptor numbers is due to the large snowfall we had a couple of weeks ago. The numbers of American Kestrels and Northern Harriers, as well as the Rough-legged Hawks, were definitely less than previous months.

When you are out looking for raptors in the landscape, every white clump of snow is a Snowy Owl. And every bump on a rock, or a hillside, is a hawk waiting to be found. Amanda and I laugh about a certain “Rock Hawk” on one segment of this route. It sits on top of a rock which is on top of a hill, and looks exactly like that… a hawk sitting on a rock. We have driven by this particular “Rock Hawk” a total of 12 times. The first time we went by it, we were both convinced it was a hawk until we got close and looked at it with a binoculars. Definitely not a bird! And every subsequent month when we would drive by it we would say, “Oh, look! There’s the Rock Hawk!“ But last month, as we drove by, I was convinced there really was a bird up there! Of course my eyes aren’t as good as they used to be, and I was driving. So we stopped and I got out the binoculars and I was convinced it moved. “This time there really is a hawk up there, Amanda!  I saw it move!”  She was not convinced. At all. And rightly so. It was just a rock.

We decided to stop and eat our lunch up at the Vernal Ponds. While we were there a couple other birders happened by who were also looking for Snowy Owls. One person was the gentleman who owns the property where the Saint Andrews Grange was located. We talked to him a little while about the fire and its aftermath and what it’s meant for his existence.  He also told us about a prairie falcon who hangs out around the fertilizer storage area just east of the Saint Andrews intersection. We were happy to hear that, because it’s on the latter part of our route. And sure enough, when we got there, there was a prairie falcon sitting on a power pole! It was great to see it. It was a little too far away to get a good photo, but we were definitely able to identify it. Now we will know to keep our eyes open for it when we go back that way.

Here is a summary of what was seen today.

Red-tailed Hawk. 1
American Kestrel. 1
Northern Harrier. 1
Bald Eagle (Adult). 4
Rough-legged Hawk. 7
Prairie Falcon. 1
Snowy Owl. 1

Today’s Raptor Ramblings might have more rambling than raptors.  But, some days are like that!  Today turned out to be a very unique day, for more than one reason.  But, maybe, when you go on an adventure every day is unique!

First off, a winter raptor survey doesn’t usually start with a flat tire, but it did today.  Well, almost flat…. To make a long story short, I ended up with four new winter tires this morning.  I wasn’t really expecting to do that. But, that’s how it turned out.  One good thing about it is that I don’t have to worry about getting a flat tire out in the middle of nowhere now!

Heading up the Bridgeport Hill Road toward the start of the route at Mansfield Road (N. Oil Rd), we left the fog behind, which was a relief.  One never knows what you will find when Waterville is engulfed in fog. But, reaching the route start, the skies opened up.  As we drive along the West Foster Creek Wildlife Area, we are always startled at the scarring from the fires from over a year ago. 

Another unique thing about this month’s survey is the lack of birds of prey.  Along the route today, there were no Red-tailed Hawks, no American Kestrels, no Northern Harriers.  I wondered where they all went.  Maybe such heavy snow cover prevents hunting and they have moved elsewhere. There were a few Rough-legged Hawks, which we were happy to see!

Leaving Penny Lake we laughed at a group of Mule Deer lounging in the snow, as though it was a warm blanket. Heading south toward Mansfield, a group of Chukars decided they weren’t sticking around! Their picture is at the top of the blog.

The resident Merlin in the town of Mansfield, showed up again!  Maybe some day one of us will get a picture that we can post. We kept our eyes open for Snowy Owls as we crept along the roads where they have been seen in previous times, but no one showed up today.  

Talk about unique!  We saw something today that we have never seen before!  I have read about porcupines sleeping in the branches of trees in the winter. Today we saw three of them sleeping in trees!  What a sight! 

When we drove down towards the north end of Jameson Lake, the resident Golden Eagle at Bennett Lake was there to greet us.  Supposedly there is a nest in the basalt.  I would love to locate it.

Here is a summary of what was seen today. Hopefully more will show up next month!

Golden Eagle – 1
Rough-legged Hawks – 7
Merlin – 1

Today was a day for American Kestrels!  If we could count every AMKE that was seen, the count would have totaled 14.  However, six of them were sitting on power poles between Quincy and the junction with SR 283.  Since that was before the start of the official route, they couldn’t be counted.

The entire drive looked much more wintery this month than it did in December. A lot of snow, and all of the lakes (Soap Lake, Lenore Lake, Alkali Lake, Blue Lake and Park Lake) were frozen over. 

The drive north up the Lower Grand Coulee is a fairly heavily traveled road.  There are a lot of turn-out spaces to stop along the road, but not when there has been a heavy snowfall.  Fortunately, there were a few that were cleared off, so a person could stop and observe. We made several stops driving up the coulee.  We were hoping that a Golden, or a Bald, Eagle might appear above the rim of the basalt, but no such luck!

A stop at the Dry Falls Visitor Center parking lot revealed a pair of Red-tailed hawks dancing on the air currents.  One was a very dark morph, and the other almost white. 

When exiting the coulee region and heading east toward the farmland south of Hartline, the route map needed a little modification. The information gleaned from the county snow plow road map wasn’t entirely accurate, almost, but not quite. Some roads that had been marked for plowing, hadn’t been, so I modified the route slightly.

A lot of the land south of US 2 is farm land with no power poles.  So, when it has a deep snow cover, you don’t see any raptors gliding over the land looking for rodents that aren’t there.

However, driving down Pinto Ridge, a Bald eagle flew over the entire arc of the sky.  Judging from its trajectory, I would guess it was traveling from Banks Lake in the Upper Grand Coulee to one of the lakes in the lower Coulee, maybe Blue Lake or Park Lake.

Here is a summary of what was seen.

Red-tailed Hawk – 5
American Kestrel – 8
Bald Eagle – 1
Rough-legged Hawk – 3