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

Trip leader Eric Heisey provided the trip account below. Thanks Eric.

Since my return to Washington, I have found myself inundated with busywork and without a car, itching to get out and do some birding. So, what a great relief it was to lead a field trip on Thursday for North Central Audubon Society at Cassimer Bar! I had a few late cancellations which whittled our group down to a nice size of six in total, and we had a great time!

The first thing that we were struck by when we arrived at Cassimer was the sheer number of swallows clouding the sky over the south part of the bar. Most of these were of the Violet-green variety, though we managed to find at least one of each regularly occurring species and one Vaux’s Swift swirling around in the swarm. In total, I estimated that the flock consisted of almost 1500 individuals, with roughly 1300 being Violet-green Swallows. Funnily, swallows are often quite pish-able, and we were able to call in the swallows until they were flying close over our head. An amazing spectacle, and perhaps my highlight of the day!

Birding around the parking lot, we encountered our first migrants, noticing Purple Finch, Spotted Towhee, Lark Sparrows, Yellow-breasted Chat, Lazuli Bunting, Wilson’s Warbler, and a calling White-breasted Nuthatch (unusual for the location, dispersing in response to poor conifer cone crops in the mountains). We started south towards the southernmost tip of the bar, still being barraged by swallows while Soras called from the marshes. The Russian Olives on the south side of the bar are often where I have the best luck with songbirds, and today was no different. We managed to find a Say’s Phoebe, Eastern Kingbird, Chipping Sparrow, Gray Catbird, Cedar Waxwing, two Steller’s Jays (unusual at Cassimer), Hammond’s Flycatcher, Pine Siskin, MacGillivray’s, Orange-crowned, Yellow and Yellow-rumped warblers, and Black-headed Grosbeak. We also managed to track down the Mountain x Black-capped Chickadee hybrid which I have now seen three times at Cassimer; all of us  had excellent looks at this unique individual. Raptors seemed to be moving overhead in small numbers, and we observed a Merlin, Cooper’s Hawk, and Northern Harrier through the morning along with the typical residents.

We popped out of the trees along the Columbia River where there were many birds on the water with excellent calm conditions for scoping. We missed very few of the regularly occurring species, with four Blue-winged Teal, two Greater Scaup, a Western Grebe, 19 Red-necked Grebes, and 19 Common Loons (many still in breeding colors) presenting the most noteworthy waterfowl. The rarest bird of the morning was a Great Egret at the tip, mingling with the Pelicans. While this species is tending to expand northwards, they are still somewhat unusual in Okanogan county. Also at the tip were a flyover Yellow-headed Blackbird and Red-necked Phalarope.

We looped back to the car, getting better looks at some of the birds listed above, and enjoying the lovely weather. It was a very comfortable temperature (mid 70s) with sun – perfect! As we walked back to the car, I tallied up the list for the morning. We had seen a very good diversity of birds for the morning, but still I was shocked to find that the total for the morning was 99 species by the time we made it back to the car! This was the most I have seen in a morning at Cassimer, but it wouldn’t be good enough until we reached 100! We searched frantically for a little while, and were eventually able to turn up a Vesper Sparrow along the access road to hit the century mark. What a morning! Below is a link to the eBird list.

Afterwards, half of the group split off while the other half of us went to the Douglas county side of the river to scan a huge flock of over 2000 birds. One of the first birds I put my scope on was an adult male White-winged Scoter – sweet! It was very evasive, but I believe all three of us got looks at it eventually. Also in the flock were a few Redheads, which we missed at Cassimer Bar. Calling from around where we were scoping was another White-breasted Nuthatch, a Canyon Wren, Mountain Chickadee, Hairy Woodpecker, and a Townsend’s Warbler, most of them new for the day.

https://ebird.org/checklist/S148661705

We ended the trip with 108 species for the day – not too shabby for ending before 3pm in August! It was a great time, and I hope that all of the participants were inspired to bird Cassimer Bar some more.

On my way home to Yakima, I stopped at Getty’s Cove in Kittitas county and managed to pish in a Northern Waterthrush, a very nice bird for the county. Also present were a good diversity of flycatchers, including Gray, Dusky, Hammond’s and Western Flycatcher, Say’s Phoebe, and Western Wood-Pewee. It was a good day for migrants, and clearly it is a good time to be looking for vagrants! Get out there and see what you can find.

Good birding,

Eric Heisey

One Last Dance

The last dance of the 22/23 Winter Raptor Survey Season took place this past Friday. Not everyone attended, but there were a few who got out. 

Thankfully, the contingent from Penny Lake Road never fails us. This year there was a Red-tailed Hawk decked out in beautiful rufous colors and a subadult Bald Eagle strutting his stuff as he glided through the sky overhead.

Penny Lake was still frozen, but some of the marshy areas attached to it were beginning to thaw at the edges. A small variety of water fowl are returning.

As we ventured south into Mansfield, a couple more Red-tailed Hawks joined the group. At the very beginning of the season, the Merlin who resides in the town of Mansfield was in attendance, showing off all his fancy footwork. But he did not show for this last dance.

Along the way, we saw what appeared to be an avian duplex! We wondered how they liked living so closely together.

Another favorite place on this route is the road going south from Mansfield to North Jameson Lake. We spotted a pair of American Kestrels, sitting on the sidelines. However, the Gyrfalcon who appeared early in the season decided to stay away.

At the very beginning of the season, thirty one members of the Rough-legged Hawk family showed up. But, today they had dwindled down to four.

Our friends from Terry Hayes Road were not in attendance either. The exception was one solitary male Northern Harrier that skirted the edge of the valley and then departed to the south. The Great-horned Owl, who spent most of the winter ensconced in the inner safety of a huge tree, was gone. The Golden Eagle who resides in the basalt cliff must have had other plans. And the porcupines had departed for the year.

But, a wonderful surprise as we drove north on Road H NE toward Mary Jane Hill and the valley of East Foster Creek! We passed a farm with a row of tall Ponderosa Pines and there we came across a pair of Rough-legged Hawks dancing a final waltz. We stood in the road and just watched them glide above us. A very fitting Last Dance of the Season!

Today’s Survey:

Red-tailed Hawk (RTHA) 4
American Kestrel (AMKE) 3
Northern Harrier (NOHA) 2
Bald Eagle – Subadult (BAEA) 1
Rough-legged Hawk (RLHA) 4

Well, that was unexpected.

Ever since that very sharp, cold snap we had at the beginning of December we have not seen very many raptors on our surveys.  The last three surveys have yielded very few birds, so we were really not expecting to see much of anything. We had figured they all flew south. For today’s survey, my daughter, Amanda was out of town. I was happy that our friend, Don Zones, was willing to ride along to add an extra pair of eyes to the endeavor of counting birds. 

As we traveled toward Penny Lake, the skies were clear and a beautiful blue. The lake was frozen and a solitary Bald Eagle perched on a power pole, watching us approach.

Across the lake, there was a coyote with some kind of a small kill. The ravens were harassing it, wanting to snatch away the prey.

Finally, the coyote picked it up and hauled it off, the ravens following.

As drove south toward the town of Mansfield, we saw what seemed to be an extremely large coyote in the snow. At first we thought it might be a wolf. The occasional member of the Okanogan wolf pack will venture quite far afield from time to time and they have been spotted in the area before. But photos taken of this individual showed that he had the very tall pointed ears, long narrow snout, and long bushy tail of the coyote. A very healthy coyote!

We traveled east, towards Road H and then northeast around Bell Butte, past Mary Jane Hill, and down to Highway 17 in the valley of East Foster Creek. By then the fog had rolled in and visibility was becoming very limited. We wondered how Terry Hayes Road would be and if it would even be worth driving out.

But, Terry Hayes Road always has something to share! This is the only place we have ever seen porcupines. No, they are not winter raptors, but they are very fascinating! The previous two months did not yield any sightings. However, this month we came upon one very close to the road. About 30 feet up in the tree, he seemed to be in a very deep sleep, and did not stir at all while we walked around taking pictures.

As we were driving out, with porcupines on the brain, we spotted a tree with a mass, seemingly attached to a center trunk. We stopped the car and studied it with our binoculars. I was looking for a porcupine and did not see anything that resembled that. But there was a type of pattern that reminded me of feathers.

Don trudged through the snow to get a little closer and determined that it was an owl! A Great Horned Owl! Talk about camouflage!

The day progressed, still shrouded in fog. We picked up a handful of Rough-legged Hawks, a couple of Red-tailed Hawks, a Prairie Falcon and two Northern Harriers. As we drove down toward the north end of Jameson Lake, we commented about the Golden Eagle nest that we knew was located in the basalt cliff above Bennett Lake. But it was totally invisible in the fog. In spite of that, one of the power poles along the road yielded a Golden Eagle and not too far away we spotted a subadult Bald Eagle.

Out of a day where we didn’t expect very much at all, we saw a wide variety of raptors and other creatures. A good day!

Today’s Survey:

Red-tailed Hawk (RTHA) 2
Northern Harrier (NOHA) 2
Bald Eagle – Adult (BAEA) 1
Bald Eagle – Subadult (BAEA) 1
Golden Eagle (GOEA) 1
Rough-legged Hawk (RLHA) 7
Prairie Falcon (PRFA) 1
Great Horned Owl (GHOW) 1

The following report and photos are provided by Eric Heisey (trip leader)

On Saturday November 26th, I had the pleasure of leading a group of 12 NCWAS birders on a field trip to Cassimer Bar Wildlife Area and a couple of other surrounding hotspots. The weather was chilly for much of the day, with a brisk wind and 4-6 inches of snow lingering from an early-season storm a couple of weeks prior. I think the early season snow really impacted our ability to find songbirds, as we really struggled to find even a couple of sparrows throughout the day. All the same, we managed to find a number of exciting birds, and had fun exploring this excellent area along the Columbia River.

We met in Pateros at 7:30 am, and after fueling up at the bakery, we consolidated ourselves into a few cars and headed toward Cassimer Bar. We parked at the southern access area off of the Cassimer Bar Access Rd (note: the western end of this road still has a number of trees down across the road from the storm earlier in November). We walked south across a snowy field and into the russian olives around the south tip, where we began to encounter some birds. The wind was biting and the snow crunched loudly below our feet, making songbirds difficult to observe. All the same, we managed to locate some Spotted Towhees, Cedar Waxwings, Northern Flickers, and American Robins feeding on this invasive species of tree. Not much more presented itself to us until we made it out to the river. Unfortunately, a low fog hung over the water, making it impossible to look out far on the river. However, we were able to make out a number of species closer to shore, and we all got solid looks at Gadwall, American Wigeon, Northern Pintail, Green-winged Teal, Scaup, Bufflehead, Common Goldeneye, Hooded Merganser, Ruddy Duck, Horned Grebe, Herring Gull, and of course, American Coot.

Activity remained rather slow until we made it to the base of the causeway. Here the sun came out, and the birds seemed to respond to the warmth. A flock of Red-winged Blackbirds flew overhead and chickadees called in a large stand of silver poplars. We were able to call in the chickadee flock, and were pleased to notice that one of the chickadees was different, a hybrid Mountain x Black-capped Chickadee! We observed this bird at close range, and were able to see the thin white eyebrow, grayer mantle, and white-edged wing feathers well while obtaining some photos. Two Ruby-crowned Kinglets foraged low to the ground with the chickadees, allowing good looks. As we continued to watch this small flock, I noticed a blackbird fly up into a snag behind the flock. Noticing that this was indeed a strange blackbird, I alerted the group to a possible Rusty Blackbird. We all got good looks at the bird, but I wanted to make sure to get good documentation before making a firm call that this was indeed such a rare bird. The lighting was very strong, which made my colorblind self a bit uncertain of whether or not the strong rusty color I was seeing was indeed rusty enough for a Rusty Blackbird and not just an artifact of the lighting. Luckily, I was able to obtain and review many photos of this rather cooperative bird while it fed side-by-side with a female Brewer’s Blackbird, allowing me to confirm its identity as a Rusty Blackbird and making for an excellent comparison. We all got good looks through the scope and our bins over the course of 10-15 minutes. Certainly, this was the excitement of the trip!

We continued down the causeway and found a large flock of diving ducks and coots. They were rather skittish as many ducks are during hunting season, but all the same, we were able to pick out a few more interesting diving waterfowl, Canvasback, Redhead, Common Loon, and Western Grebe, while obtaining better looks at some of the species we had observed earlier. A Northern Harrier flew by closely while Eagles and Red-tailed Hawks flew about as we watched the ducks. We finished circling back to the cars by way of the western section of the access road, still struggling to find any songbirds as we walked. We made it back to the cars and after a quick snack, decided to go look for swans and Saw-whet Owls next. On the way out, a Townsend’s Solitaire flew in front of my car, uncommon along this stretch of the Columbia in winter.

At the junction of Highway 17 and 97, we stopped to look for swans. Both Trumpeter and Tundra Swans were present (around 40 in total, most being Trumpeter), and though they were a bit distant, we all got good looks at the key field marks of both species. We continued to Bridgeport State Park after this brief stop, where we tried and failed to find the Saw-whet Owls who roost there in the winter. There was very little scat in general, making me wonder if they simply aren’t roosting regularly yet. We did hear a Great Horned Owl loudly hooting above our heads, and spotted a Golden Eagle soaring out far to the north of us. On the way towards our last stop, Bridgeport Bar Wildlife Area, we spotted two Snow Geese foraging on a soccer field below Chief Joseph Dam. After getting solid looks at these white geese, we drove across the bridge and noticed a couple of late American White Pelicans roosting on the rocks along the waterfront of Bridgeport. Cool!

Our last stop at Bridgeport Bar was disappointingly birdless in comparison to this time last year. A year before I had witnessed over a thousand sparrows feeding on intentionally planted wheat, kasha and corn at this location (https://ebird.org/checklist/S98430823), and was hoping for a similar spectacle on this trip. Alas, we struggled to find even 1/20th the number of songbirds I had found in the previous year, as it seems the wheat and kasha that were present last year were not grown this year. Coupled with the early snow, passerine numbers were quite paltry. Still, we managed to find some interesting birds, as we watched Steller’s Jays chasing around a Great Horned Owl, and later found the owl sitting right out in the open where we all had fantastic looks at this stunning large raptor. Our last highlight of the day was a female Merlin, which cruised low over our heads and allowed the entire group excellent looks. A great end to the day!

Overall, we managed to find 62 species of birds on the day (https://ebird.org/tripreport/86942). This is not lucrative, but given the late November conditions I think we did pretty well, and even managed to find a couple of rare species. The Rusty Blackbird was of only a handful of records of this species for Okanogan county, and the chickadee hybrid was only the second record in eBird for the county (the first also from Cassimer Bar earlier this fall, and perhaps the same individual). It was a great day with excellent company. I sure had a great time, and I hope that the participants did as well!

Until next time.

Eric Heisey

You never know what you’ll find

This season, the Raptor Ramblings will be more of a an exception, rather than the rule. I won’t be able to submit a blog after each trip, like last year. But if a raptor survey is especially interesting, or has something unique to it, I’ll post about it. The survey we did yesterday was one of those.

It’s hard to know what the weather will be like up on the Waterville plateau when you leave Wenatchee to drive a raptor survey. Whether it’s sunny or foggy in Wenatchee has nothing to do with what the weather is like up there.

As we drove the 62 miles from home to the start of the survey route, we encountered patches of intense fog and areas of sunshine. We knew this day would be interesting because it’s hard to count birds in the fog! We just hoped we could see some. We counted eight or nine Buteos as we drove to the survey start point, so we felt encouraged.

As we wound around the town of Mansfield, and north, we did see a number of Rough-legged and Red-tailed hawks as well as a couple American kestrels. But, then, the road dipped down almost 500 feet in elevation, past Mary Jane Hill, down to the valley of East Foster Creek and Highway 17. The fog was thick and we wondered how we could see anything.

As we traveled Highway 17, we seriously contemplated skipping Terry Hayes Road. Terry Hayes is a little road 1 1/2 miles in length. We never see anything down that road except one Golden eagle who lives there. We definitely wanted to count the G0EA, but with the fog this thick we doubted we could even see him. As we approached the turn off, we noticed the fog seem to thin out a bit and we spotted a Red-tailed hawk near the turn off. That changed our minds and we decided to run out the mile and a half to see what we could see. Good decision! In that little a mile and a half, we saw five Rough-legged hawks, two Red-tail hawks, and a Prairie falcon! We wished we had brought our cameras with us! One of the Rough-leggeds sat on a fence post very close to us, and just stared for the longest time. We could’ve gotten some really great shots. But at least we saw him!

As we wound around on Highway 17, south to Sims Corner, and then east to Mansfield, we picked up more Buteos. Then we turned south towards the north end of Jameson lake. Wow! We couldn’t believe our eyes. It seems like every third or fourth power pole had a raptor on it. In the 9 miles from the town of Mansfield, down to the north end of Jameson Lake we saw two Red-tailed hawks, two American kestrels, SIXTEEN Rough-legged hawks, and one Golden eagle! As we were driving out, nearing the town of Mansfield, a bird flew on to a power pole. We slammed on the brakes to look at it. There it sat, looking back at us. A gyrfalcon! In the very same place, we had spotted one 2 years ago!

So, fog or no fog, you never know what you’ll find. And, don’t skip Terry Hayes Road!

Today’s Survey:

Red-tailed Hawk (RTHA) 10
American Kestrel (AMKE) 4
Golden Eagle (GOEA) 1
Rough-legged Hawk (RLHA) 31
Prairie Falcon (PRFA) 1
Gyrfalcon (GYRF) 1

Additional wildlife we saw today, not on the survey:

RTHA & RLHA 10
Horned Larks (HOLA) approximately 100
Common Raven (CORA) approximately 35
Ring-necked pheasant (RNEP) 1
Gray partridge (GRAP) 25
Mule deer 15

On Friday, November 4, David Lukas will talk about bird bones and skeletons at the Winthrop Library starting at 4 p.m. This fascinating one-hour program will explore the marvelous ways that bird bones and skeletons work together to shape how birds move through the world. As time permits, we might also talk a bit about feathers. In addition to the presentation, David will bring some feathers, bones, and a bird skeleton as examples of what we’re talking about. He will also be giving this same talk at the Tonasket Community Center on Friday, November 11, at 6:30 pm. Contact David is you need any further details, david@lukasguides.com.

This video shows HawkWatch International’s lead raptor bander, Amanda Hancock, releasing a first year Sharp-shinned hawk up at Chelan Ridge. Captured birds are measured, banded and released.

This was during an NCW Audubon field trip on September 25, 2022, when we visited this particular HawkWatch site. Our group saw several raptors from the observation deck that day and 5 different species, one of which was a very dark-morphed Merlin that flew directly above us before soaring down the ridge to the South.

Crew leader Gary Palmer noted that this has been a good year for sighting raptors up at the Ridge as the total counts are running slightly higher than usual. Counts per season typically range between 2,000-3,000 migrants and up to 17 species.

HawkWatch International, in partnership with the USFS Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest, began annual standardized counts at the site in 1998 to monitor and learn more about raptors migrating through the east Cascades of Washington within the Pacific Coast Flyway.

The Chelan Ridge HawkWatch station will stay open barring bad weather until October 27^th and they welcome visitors. At: Hawkwatch International – Home you can get directions to the site and learn much more about the organization.