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!