"Quiet day" - Friday, August 31, 2007

In the past 6 banded would be considered a pretty good day. But all things are relative, and this year 6 banded qualifies as "quiet". Jim Shiflet was on the ridge with Dennis Ryan and Cindy Willis.

We're still waiting for these first's of the season! - adult Red tail hawk, Northern Goshawk, and Prairie or Peregrine falcon

Raptors banded:

2 HY male SSHA
1 AHY male SSHA
1 HY male COHA
1 U male AMKE
1 HY U RTHA

Photo of the day:

Juvenile Red Tail Hawk

14 Banded - August 30, 2007

That's right, a total of 14 on Thursday including another 6 Kestrels. We are now up to a total of 38 for the season. In both 2005 and 2006, we had a total of 11 as of this date. We are being blessed by perfect weather, but what else is contributing to this abundance? The Kestrel population appears to be high this year and there are all sorts of other theories to postulate on, but in the end, what fun it is to have such a great start!

Jim Shiflet, Dalene, and Penny Lewis were on the ridge today. Besides the raptors they reported observing more Lewis's woodpeckers, Vaux and White-throated swifts and our annual Osprey that flys North over the west valley with a fish in her talons.

Raptors banded:

3 HY male AMKE
3 U male AMKE
6 HY female SSHA
1 HY female COHA
1 AHY female COHA

A trio of American Kestrels:

A Kestrel kind of day! August 29, 2007

The best day yet with a total of 9, and a record day for American Kestrels. Sue, Dalene, Pat and 3 first time visitors were treated to another day of perfect weather. It was in the 80's by mid afternoon with virtually no wind.

We started just after 7:30 and caught our first bird at 8:02. The early bird (trapper) catches the worm (most birds)!

The most Kestrels we have banded in 1 day since the project started in 2001 is 3, and we doubled that on Wednesday by banding 6. There were times when up to 3 were around the set together and at one point, 2 AMKE's were stooping a SSHA that landed in the close fir. One AMKE we banded had a grasshopper wing in with it's tail feathers.

Other highlights of the day were an abundance of Lewis's Woodpeckers, swarms of bugs moving through, and more than 17 Turkey Vultures observed, 2 of which Pat saw copulating in a fir near the power lines.

We are now up to a total of 24. In comparison to our other best years, in 2005 we had 10 as of August 29, and last year we had 9 as of August 29.

We are still waiting for our first NOGO, adult RTHA, and large falcon of the season!

Raptors banded:

1 HY male SSHA
1 HY female SSHA
1 HY female COHA
5 HY male AMKE
1 HY female AMKE

Photos of the day:

male AMKE



male AMKE



female AMKE

Keep 'em coming! Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Another good day for early season at the ridge. Pat Litle and Mike Walker reported in with 7 banded. He also noted that there were white throated swifts flying through all day and in the evening there were 2 nighthawks flying around the site. (There are more than raptors to enjoy up there!)

The close call of the day was a PRFA. (Maybe we will catch her on Wednesday!)

Raptors banded:

1 HY male AMKE
1 female AMKE
2 HY female SSHA
3 HY male SSHA

Photo of the day, female AMKE:

8 Banded! Monday, August 27, 2007

The first bird of the season was a HY F COHA. Martin Muller and Pat Little called in with the report. The weather was very pleasant, clear with some smoke from the Stehekin fire to the NE. The captures were nicely spread out over the day.

Heartbreak of the day story: Adult RTHA came in from behind, over the pigeon, straight through the dho-gazza and on into the sunset.

Raptors banded:

2 HY female COHA
1 HY female SSHA
1 HY male SSHA
2 HY male AMKE
1 AHY male AMKE
1 HY RTHA

Photo of the day, HY female COHA:

Opening Day! Sunday, August 26, 2007

The team finished set-up and started trapping on Sunday with cloudy skies and some wind. They saw 6 and caught none.

The observed raptors were:

1 SSHA
1 RTHA
1 AMKE
3 TUVU

Weather is predicted to be better for the week, so stay tuned!