A Trip Down the Tumbleweed Turnpike

Today was Thanksgiving 2023. We decided to forgo the turkey and headed out to do our last winter raptor survey for November. However, instead of turkeys, we ran into tumbleweeds! Scores of tumbleweeds!

Last week, Amanda and I started out to conduct our survey, but when we got to the east side of Moses Coulee,  the fog rolled in so thickly we couldn’t see 30 feet in front of ourselves.  There really was nothing to do but turn around and go home. Today was an absolutely beautiful, sunny day and we decided this was a good day to go back and drive the survey route. 

But, the wind! The wind was unbelievable! When you stopped the car, you could hardly open the door. And I think every tumbleweed that originated on the north end of the plateau came barreling down the wheat fields, over the sage, and the roads that we were driving. They were everywhere! We were constantly playing dodgeball with the tumbleweeds.

Because of stiff wind, we were afraid the birds would really be hunkered down and we wouldn’t see many. For the first half of the day, we saw no Northern Harriers at all. But when we stopped to eat our lunch, they started to creep out. As the day went on, they came out one by one, and by the end of the day, we had counted six.

In addition to the raptors, we were happy to see a very healthy looking coyote.  He stopped to look at us several time as he trotted away. 

Just south of the Vernal Ponds we saw a group of Mule Deer.

We were also wondering what had happened to the Red-tailed hawks.  They just weren’t showing and we wondered if we were going to start singing that song, “Where have all the Red-tails gone?“ But eventually, one showed up, and then another. We ended the day with three.

However, the Rough-legged hawks!  They were a different story!  They came to play… and to hunt. 

Rough-leggeds travel all the way down from the Arctic tundra, literally hundreds upon hundreds of miles. They weren’t bothered by the mere 30 mile-per-hour winds.

They were kiting! They were hunting! They were everywhere! Altogether we counted 22.

In addition, we saw four American Kestrels and two Prairie Falcons. 

We were happy that the Tumbleweed Turnpike didn’t deter the raptor population.

Today’s Survey:

Red-tailed Hawk  3
American Kestrel  4
Northern Harrier  6
Rough-legged Hawk  22
Prairie Falcon  2

Migration Madness

This month’s raptor survey started with a bang. And it just kept going! Fall migration is in full swing and all the players were out. In addition to the raptors, we saw a wide variety of waterfowl, one coyote and forty-one mule deer.

It’s pretty rare to see something right at the beginning of our survey route. One year we did see a Bald Eagle, but he was definitely the exception.  This month, we stopped at the  beginning of our route, I zeroed out the odometer, Amanda recorded the weather and time and we took a look around. Immediately, we saw an American Kestrel watching us from a power line, as well as two Red-tailed Hawks (RTHA) and one Rough-legged Hawk (RLHA).  And, from that point it just kept going.

Not too far along the route we turned on the road that goes to Penny Lake.

Because the lake was not frozen, there were still a lot of waterfowl on the water: Mallards, Redheads, Ring-necks, Coots, and about eight Trumpeter swans.

Also along that road we saw a RTHA, two RLHAs and a Prairie falcon, carrying its lunch.

Heading south towards Mansfield, we picked up more RTHAs  and more RLHAs. We went into town looking for the Merlin who resides there, but did not find him.

From Mansfield, our route goes east and heads down Mary Jane Hill to the Foster River valley which holds Highway 17. Not too far along, is one of our favorite turnoffs, Terry Hayes Road. It’s less than 3 1/2 miles long but there’s always something interesting to see there. Further along in the winter there will be porcupines sleeping in the trees. This time, we picked up RTHAs and RLHAs and looked for the Great Horned Owl that we have seen several times.

We looked at the tree where it has been found previously and almost missed it! But, there it was! Perfectly camouflaged! A brown and white owl hiding among brown and white branches is easy to miss!

We don’t usually see much as we travel east and south on Highway 17. It’s a heavily traveled road, and it’s always been my feeling that there were so many cars, that the birds stayed away. But this time, we picked up SIX RTHAs!

And looking out the side window what did we see but a Northern Goshawk! He was very distinct with his body coloration and his white eyebrow. A first for both of us! Unfortunately, there was too much traffic for us to stop and get a photo.

I have read that when RLHAs migrate they will frequently migrate together in small groups.  As we headed south out of Mansfield, going towards the north end of Jameson Lake, we observed this. At one point, the road makes a sharp turn to the south, and to the east another road goes off to Grimes Lake. From that location, within a circle with a radius of about a quarter mile, we counted nine individual RLHAs. NINE! We couldn’t believe it! 

And then, looking in the direction of Grimes Lake, just past where the RLHAs were, we saw two Golden eagles soaring in the sky, one adult and one sub-adult. There is a Golden eagle nest in the basalt above Bennett Lake, so it’s not unusual to see Goldens here.

We backtracked to Mansfield where we once again looked for the Merlin, without success. And just like that, the raptors were gone. The remaining nine miles of our route did not produce one more raptor. It seems that our survey ended the same way it started… with a bang.

Here is a summary of what was seen:

Golden Eagle 2 (one adult and one sub-adult)
Red-tailed Hawk 18
Rough-legged Hawk 18
Goshawk 1
Great Horned Owl 1
American Kestrel 3
Prairie Falcon 1