Entiat SSHA Reported in CA

A HY male SSHA that we banded on 9/27/07 was captured at the Palomarin field station in Bolinas, CA. on 11/03/2007.

Pat Little did some Google Earth research and found out that it is 682 miles from our Entiat site to the Palomarin field station, which is located at the southern end of the Point Reyes National Seashore.

Here is a link to their website. http://www.prbo.org/cms/27

2007 Wrap Up

Here is the final total count of banded hawks for the years 2001-2007. We ended this season with 280, which puts 2007 as the fourth highest season overall and the third highest as of October 6, which was our last day this year.


This graph shows the average number of hawks banded per day for the years 2001-2007. This season was the third highest at 6.8 per day.


This graph shows the total number of each species we banded and compares that to the average number banded over the 2001-2006 seasons. This year we were higher than average with Cooper's Hawks and American Kestrels, and lower than average on almost everything else. We banded 10 different species this year. Over the years we have banded 11 different species, but we have yet to band all 11 in one season.

And that gives us a goal for next year!

Saturday, October 6, 2007

This photo is not from yesterday, but it is symbolic of the last half of our season. What started out as a promising record breaking year, has been shut down early by cold, windy weather.

Mark Gleason ran solo today. Not only were additional helpers absent, he also lacked any hawks to band.

Mark and Martin will be up there Sunday. They will be starting to close up the operation, but depending on weather, they may see if they can bring in a few last hawks.

Our total stands at 279, which is third behind 2005 and 2006, as of today's date.

5 More and Some Excitement - October 5, 2007

AHY Red Tail Hawk

Mike, Vicky, and Becky may not have banded a lot today, but this adult Red Tail Hawk must have more than made up for it. Vicky said it was BIG and the photo certainly shows that. There is enough overlap in size of female and male RTHA's that the only definitive way to sex them is through blood work. So we always leave them as U (unidentified) for their sex.

As if this hawk wasn't enough to make their day, a HY Golden Eagle came over and put on a great show for them. Becky sent some photos of the action.

The weather was mostly clear and the wind picked up in the afternoon. It was a typical late migration pattern, where streams of hawks were beelining North to South over the west valley, with little to no interest in helping us out with our project.

Raptors banded:

1 HY female SSHA
1 AHY female SSHA
1 SY male SSHA
1 HY female COHA
1 AHY U RTHA

"Not rain, nor snow....." - Thursday, October 4, 2007

Comparison of female and male SSHA - both AHY

Not rain, nor snow, nor sleet, nor fog can keep the Entiat banders from their appointed goal.

Another day of varied, more like early Winter than Fall, weather. Mike, Vicky, Dalene, and Becky perservered through another day of freezing toes and fingers and ended up with 5 hawks banded.

Raptors banded:

1 AHY male SSHA
3 AHY female SSHA
1 ASY male COHA

We are now at a total of 274 for the year. We have jumped back ahead of 2002 and with 10 days left for our season, it will be a race to the end, to see if we can stay ahead of that year.

How cold was it? Wednesday, October 3, 2007

As cold as...... Nonetheless, the hardy all women crew banded 5 raptors for the day. They got off to a late start, after discovering on arrival that everything was coated with thick ice. The sun came out for a bit early on and helped with the process of clearing off the minimum gear needed to start.

As the day progressed every weather event possible proceeded to unfold. There was brief sun, hail, freezing rain, fog, snow blowing up hill, and of course, wind.

Sue, Dalene, Becky, and Michelle were rewarded with 5 hawks, including a Red Tail Hawk. There was also the delightful sighting of a bear on the power line road on the way up in the morning.

Raptors banded:

1 HY male SSHA
1 HY female SSHA
1 AHY female SSHA
1 ASY female COHA
1 HY U RTHA


ASY female COHA


HY RTHA


Yesterdays quiz of the day winner is Bud, who identified the chipmunk as a duck.

4 Banded - Tuesday, October 2, 2007

Today was better as far as numbers go, but only marginally so as far as weather. Pat , Mike, Becky, and Michelle banded a total of 4 today even though they were shut down early by steady rain.

Raptors banded:

1 AHY female SSHA
1 SY female SSHA
2 ASY female COHA

Releasing a COHA:


Quiz for the day - species?

Wind, Snow, Rain - Monday, October 1, 2007

In Martin's words:

"Today, Monday, the precipitation was rain. We had a fair amount of wind. By 11 AM the clouds had lifted enough to show the owl on the knoll. By 2 PM we confirmed that Sugarloaf still existed, with a dusting of snow still sticking to the top."

"Finally, about 4 PM ( with dozens of ravens showing off their mastery of the windy skies....)" they had a HY M Sharpie. "Definitely the best bird of the day." The second bird of the day came in about 10 minutes later, a HY F Sharpie.

Raptors banded:

1 HY male SSHA
1 HY female SSHA

"Snow can be picturesque, but it sure slows things down......"


Answer to yesterday's quiz: Prairie Falcon

Another First for the Season - Sunday, September 30, 2007

But not the kind of "first" that we want to record. Sorry. Sunday was a big old SKUNK. I'm sure Martin stayed until the very last bit of snow had melted, and the last glimmer of light had faded, hoping to at least see a hawk through the clouds and the mist and the snow.

But it was not to be today. Interestingly enough, out of all 7 years, this is the third September 30th with a zero day.

Answer to yesterdays quiz - Northern Goshawk - HY male

Todays quiz - sometimes all you see is a blur like this:

Check back tomorrow.

3 More Banded - Saturday, September 29, 2007

Today started out windy, but was flat calm by the end of the day. Mark Gleason headed the crew that saw a total of 15 raptors and banded 3, for a total of 258.

Photos may be scarcer for the next couple of weeks, but I will try to keep something interesting to look at.

Raptors banded:

3 ASY female COHA

Quiz for the day - Name That Silhouette - check tomorrow for the answer.

3 Banded - Friday, September 28, 2007

Another nice double catch - this one of Cooper's Hawks

The wind returned today along with much colder temperatures. The forecast was for freezing levels of 3500' and snow, but luckily the precipitation held off. Mike, Vicky and Dalene saw a total of 10 raptors the whole day. They banded 3.

We now have a total of 255. In the interest of fair reporting, I am including the updated graph which shows that we are currently behind 2005 and 2006.

Raptors banded:

1 SY female SSHA
1 AHY female COHA
1 ASY female COHA

Peak Week - Not This Year - Thursday, September 27, 2007

The catch of the day - HY female Northern Harrier

Our historically average biggest day turned out to be decent, but not worthy of peak week status. The weather was perfect with high overcast, almost no breeze and warming into the high 60's by afternoon.

Sue, Dalene, Mike, and Vicky banded 10 raptors today. They saw 37, almost a third of which were adult Red Tail Hawks on a beeline over the west valley heading North to South. That is typical of this time of year, but the numbers seen are lower than average.

But there is nothing like having a Northern Harrier in hand to make up for all the hours of looking at empty sky. She was a beauty.

Raptors banded:

4 HY male SSHA
2 HY female SSHA
1 SY female SSHA
1 HY female COHA
1 ASY female COHA
1 HY female NOHA


Size comparison of female and male HY SSHA



More NOHA photos

Banded 6- September 26th, 2007

ASY COHA

Sue and Dalene were joined by Meghan and Simone for another slow day. It started out windy and turned into an almost perfect day, but still only 6 banded. Coincidentally, the all women crew caught only female birds.

Raptors banded:
2 HY female SSHA
1 AHY female SSHA
1 HY female COHA
2 ASY female COHA

Accipiter Trifecta- September 25th, 2007

AHY female SSHA

Despite howling winds, Sue and Dalene were able to band 5 birds. And not just any five birds- but all three Accipiter species. They also had a rare sighting of a Bald Eagle heading South.

Raptors banded:
2 HY female SSHA
1 AHY female SSHA
1 ASY female COHA
1 HY male NOGO

This brings us to a total of 236 for the season.

11 Banded! - Monday, September 24, 2007

A great shot of an ASY female COHA in molt.


Martin Muller and Vivian Gross got us going again today with 11 raptors banded. They had clear skies with a few clouds on the horizon. They caught 10 of these by 12:40 PM and then the last one around 4 PM.

Raptors banded:

1 HY male SSHA
1 HY female SSHA
4 SY female SSHA
1 AHY female SSHA
1 AHY male COHA
2 ASY male COHA
1 ASY female COHA

We finally have the graph heading upwards again!

2 More Banded - Sunday, September 23, 2007

What a joy to be so happy with small things.

Jim and Kaitlyn got us through another day with at least something banded. They saw 35, which is more than we have been seeing the last few days, but most of the raptors today were showing little interest. They did have some fun watching another Golden Eagle coming in close and an adult Peregrine Falcon making many passes.

Raptors banded:

1 AHY female SSHA
1 SY female SSHA

Here is a graph showing the average # caught per day during 2001-2006. As you can see, we traditionally have a slow period mid September. Our busiest week historically is this coming week. Any bets on whether we will top our biggest day so far of 26?



Here we see the species breakdown for the years 2001-2006 compared to what we have banded so far in 2007. It appears to be the "Year of the Kestrel". Our Cooper's Hawk numbers are above average also, while some of the other species are below average. It is still too early to speculate, but on those slow days in the blind, what else is there to do? Suffice it to say, at this point, anything could still happen.

Little by Little - Saturday, September 22, 2007

Another windy day. Actually, in Jim's words, it was "howling". They saw 14 raptors and Banded 2, both around 4 PM. They had some very good looks at a Golden Eagle which helped spice up the day a bit.

Jim Shifflet was helped out by Kaitlyn MacIntyre and Penny Lewis.We are now at 218, and still ahead of last year by 21.

Raptors banded:

1 HY male COHA
1 SY male COHA

A happy bander with a SY male Copper's Hawk:

5 Banded - Friday, September 21, 2007

HY male Merlin


It was still windy today on the ridge, but thankfully less so. (It was only gusting to 20 mph instead of 30 mph!) The crew saw 14 today and banded a total of 5. They had a Prairie Falcon around the set for quite a while, but it was being harassed by Ravens and it finally flew away.

This brings our season total to 216. Mike and Vicki Elledge were joined by Penny Lewis.

Raptors banded:

1 HY male SSHA
1 HY female SSHA
1 ASY female SSHA
1 HY female COHA
1 HY male MERL

High Winds - 1 Banded - Thursday, September 20, 2007

It was a very windy day today with gusts reportedly up to 30 mph. Not only does that mean fewer seen and fewer caught, but it also means a wearing day on the team. They persevered and did succeed in banding 1 Cooper's Hawk.

Mike, Vicky, and Dalene were our intrepid crew. They saw 10 including a Bald Eagle and a Peregrine Falcon.

Raptors banded:

1 HY female COHA

And here she is:



The answer to yesterday's quiz:
HY COHA

Back In The Running - Wednesday, September 19, 2007

After Second Year male COHA


It was a calm day today on the ridge with nice clouds throughout the day. Pat and Dalene got us going again by banding 7. The first bird, pictured above, came in just seconds after they had started, thus deemed the "breakfast bird". We are now at 210 total season to date.

Raptors banded:

1 HY male SSHA
1 HY female SSHA
2 SY female SSHA
1 HY male COHA
1 HY female COHA
1 ASY male COHA

Can you correctly identify the species and age of this bird? (The answer will be in tomorrow's post.)

1 More Banded - Tuesday, September 18, 2007

More clouds and rainy weather over the mountains today. The weather is one of the most obvious factors that determine how many hawks we see migrating. Pat called to say they only saw 10 today and they caught 1 Red Tail Hawk.

Raptors banded:

1 HY U RTHA

No photos were taken today, so I will entertain you with a few graphs. Our season to date total is at 203 and that is still above our biggest year ever, 2006.




Here is the graph that shows this years species composition to date:



This is the graph that shows the species breakdown for the years 2001-2006:

5 Banded - Monday, September 17, 2007

A much better day as far as banded goes. Martin's weather report was "not as windy, heavy clouds to the west, and some sun". It apparently was pouring raining on I 90 in the morning. Still only a "trickle" of raptors were observed, 13. And good trappers that they are, they caught 5 of them.

In Martin's words, the bird of the day was a AHY male COHA,, caught at 10:01 AM, because it meant it would not be a "skunk". The last raptor seen and caught was a HY female SSHA at 3:47 PM. They did not take any photos today.

Helping Martin today was Vivian and Matt. Our total to date is 202. The 200th bird of the season was a HY female SSHA, the bread and butter of the project.

Windy - 1 Banded - Sunday, September 16, 2007

Martin reported winds of 25-35 mph today and cloudy. They gave one up for the team, and hung in there, eventually banding 1 raptor. We now have a total season to date of 197. Last year on this date we had 160. So we are still doing just fine. Thanks you guys!

Raptor banded:

1 HY female SSHA

8 Banded - Saturday, September 15, 2007

It was a typical windy day on the ridge Saturday. They saw lots of Red Tail Hawks and another Prairie Falcon, as well as catching a PRFA.

Saturday's team consisted of Mark Gleason, Dennis Ryan, Cindy Willis, Don McCall, and Mike Walker.

(Check yesterday's blog for NOHA photo)

Raptors banded:

5 SSHA
1 COHA
1 AMKE
1 HY male PRFA

This brings total to date up to 196.

HY male Prairie Falcon

Another first for the season - Friday, September 14, 2007

HY female Northern Harrier

Rock 'n Roll! Another 20 banded today and the first Northern Harrier of the season.

The only species left to catch for a first of the season is a Rough-Legged Hawk, and we have only caught 2 since 2001. And then there are the species that we have never caught at Entiat before. Maybe we will see one of those this season.

Raptors banded:

8 HY male SSHA
1 AHY female SSHA
2 SY female SSHA
2 HY male COHA
3 HY female COHA
1 AHY female C OHA
1 ASY female COHA
1 HY female MERL
1 HY female NOHA


Season to date total of 188

11 Banded - Thursday, September 13, 2007

Quite a different day today as far as total banded. But very similar as far as weather. Dalene reported clear skies, and hot with very little wind. We always speculate, but never really know for sure, why 2 consecutive days with similar conditions can be so different as far as numbers banded.

On the ridge today were Jim Shiflet, Dalene Keith, and Carolyn Brannen.

Raptors banded:

2 HY female SSHA
5 HY male SSHA
2 HY male COHA
1 HY female COHA
1 AHY male COHA

With yesterdays high numbers we are again ahead of last year at this time.We now have 168 for the season compared to last year at this date of 147.

All Time Record Tied! - Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Well this season just keeps getting better and better. The all time record at Entiat of 26 banded was set by the Ladies Tea and Trapping Society last year on Wednesdy, September 27. Today, Pat Little and Dalene Keith tied that record. And they pulled it off with just the 2 of them.

They report that the hawks came in fairly steady throughout the day. The weather was classic late summer; hot with very little wind.

The most interesting observation of the day, #5 on the obs sheet, was a Bobcat. Dalene saw it peering up over the rock cliff on the west side of the set. It was gone before they could get a photo of it.

Ray Cruz and his friend Carl banded 1 HY RTHA at a location they have set up about 1/2 mile up ridge from the main blind.

Raptors banded:

8 HY male SSHA
13 HY female SSHA
1 ASY female SSHA
3 ASY female COHA
1 HY male AMKE

22 SSHA in one day is a record. This puts us up over last year again with a total of 157. I will get the graph posted later.

Great job you two!


Photo of the day (they even had time to take photos!?!):

HY male AMKE

Late Breaking News! GOLDEN EAGLE

Pat Little with AHY male Golden Eagle

I just got this in from the ridge and need to post it before the day is through. I called to verify that the photo wasn't photoshopped (yes Pat, you do like to play tricks!). This is just the 3rd Golden Eagle that we have ever banded at Entiat since 2001. (This guy weighed 40 times more than a Sharp-shinned hawk they caught just before him.)

I talked to Pat Little and got the story. He came by around 4 PM. He was molting so he was after hatch year. They may be able to determine a definite age by reviewing photos of the plumage. It was also noted that he was very docile. Helping Pat on the ridge today were Gavin Brady, Gail Roberts, and Jody Marquadt. They had 8 total for the day.

Way to go Team!

Raptors banded:

1 HY female SSHA
4 HY male SSHA
1 HY male COHA
1 HY U RTHA
1 AHY male GOEA

AHY male Golden Eagle leaving Entiat



Here is the Sharp-shinned hawk that weighed 1/40th of the GOEA



We are now at a total of 131. Last year at this date we had 138. Last year it slowed down a bit on the next few days, so with the good weather forecast, there is a good chance we will soon be ahead of last year again.