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