Diario del proyecto Inland Pacific Northwest Raptor Migration 2021

Top 5 Species (October):
Red-tailed Hawk -- 43 obs
Bald Eagle -- 14 obs (new to Top 5)
Great Horned Owl -- 12 (returns to Top 5)
American Kestrel -- 9 (-1)
Merlin -- 8 (new to Top 5)

Top 5 Species (Overall):
Red-tailed Hawk -- 235 obs
Turkey Vulture -- 60 obs
Osprey -- 52 obs
American Kestrel -- 49 obs (+1)
Swainson's Hawk -- 44 obs (-1)

Total Species Overall: 29

Top 5 Observers (Observations): birdwhisperer 205 obs, @cgates326 48 obs, @masonmaron 41 obs, @andybridges 40 obs, @jnelson 17 obs

Top 5 Observers (Species): birdwhisperer 18 species, cgates 14 species, masonmaron 10 species, andybridges 9 species, jnelson 9 species

Species Still Not Observed: White-tailed Kite, Snowy Owl, Northern Hawk-Owl, Spotted Owl, Boreal Owl, Gyrfalcon -- 6 species

New Species in October: Rough-legged Hawk -- 1 species

Counties Needing Observations: WA -- Columbia -- OR -- Gilliam, Morrow, Jefferson

News and What to Expect in November: The next thirty days, we should be keeping our eyes out for winter specialty species. That includes Rough-legged Hawks, Gyrfalcons and Snowy Owls. Thought your best chances of seeing these species is in December, they can show up around now. Also look for other, more common wintering species like Harlan's Hawk or vagrant Red-tails. In fact, I might've spotted an Eastern Red-tailed today in Idaho, unfortunately not within the perimeters of the project but it could end up here.

For the week of October 21-27, I'm nominating myself for the Observation of the Week for a fine Red-tailed Hawk in Walla Walla. What can I say about them, they're fantastic and honestly, I can't wait for my mind to go through the loops when the migrants come and I have to sort them out. You can see my photo here:

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/99850237

Observation of the Month goes to @joy41 for a photo of a Bald Eagle in Summer Lake, Oregon. The national bird, it looks like he's kind of sick of the photographer. But we can all agree raptors always have a perpetual glare. Link to that photo below:

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/99776984

In terms of pacing, the project is now at 686 observations! If we post up to 30 observations per week in order to break our 2020 record, and if we want the all-time record, we need at least 40 observation per week to break it. However October was not the best month for new observations, when there's just as many cool stuff about. So just take pictures, even if it's the Red-tailed in your neighborhood. Good luck to you all and I hope you have a good month.

It has been crazy two weeks, hence why I haven't posted, but with the additions of 84 observations, we now sit at 760 reports this project season. This little push in reports now puts us on pace to break last year's record and possibly even the 2019 season. So keep up the good work!

The Observation of the Week (Oct 28-Nov 3) goes to @joy41 for an image of a perched juvenile Northern Harrier at Summer Lake, Oregon. I always find aging harriers really difficult but this one we can tell is a hatch year individual based on the relatively unstreaked underparts and strong rufous wash. Females tend to be more brownish or whitish with heavily streaked underparts. But you get those oddballs that blur the lines with aging, we're just lucky this one is so easy!

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/99777014

The Observation of the Week (Nov 4-10) goes to @flammulated for a Northern Saw-whet Owl in the Steens, Oregon. This is the fourth saw-whet owl of the project but by far the best quality image yet. What amazes me about these little owls is how often they're overlooked. I read a post at Rocky Point Bird Observatory that they caught and banded 1,000 saw-whets this fall season! Imagine if we could find them at their day roosts as often as they are caught. Just wow!

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/100601100

Winter is starting to set in and it looks like we have a good winter ahead of us. I'm seeing an redpoll irruption that is long overdue in the West, so what does that mean for other species? Could this be the year of the Snowy Owl? Gyrfalcon? Only one way to find out.

Thirty observations brings the total observation count over 800. For mid-November, this is good news for me but we shouldn't let up. Let's continue heading towards that thousand observation goal. And if it helps with motivation, we're only 90 away from breaking last year's record.

It was difficult to chose the Observation of the Week. We have a very nice Rough-legged Hawk posting, I had a sleeping Great Horned, and I had my first encounter with a dark morph Ferruginous Hawk. But out of all of that, I think the prize goes to @nmrveji for a photo of a Black Merlin. To the best of knowledge, this does not only mark our very first Black Merlin in the three years I've been doing this project, but also our first non-Taiga Merlin. They can be discerned by the much more common and expected race of Merlin by the lack of white bands on the tails (some can have up to at least 3 incomplete bands), dark head that obscures the teardrop stripes below the eye, and underparts more heavily marked. You can see the photo here:

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/101069976

Not only has this been a good week for raptors, it's also looking to be a good year for finches. It is only mid-November and we are seeing numbers of redpolls and White-winged Crossbills that haven't been seen in Washington or Oregon since the 2012-2013 winter. This "irruption" is looking to be quite spectacular and it might also be a good sign for us raptor watchers. These high counts of winter species might also mean we'll see an unusual increase and southward migration of the Arctic 3; Rough-legged Hawk, Snowy Owl and Gyrfalcon. I can feel it, this winter is going to be good.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Hope you're all having a good day with family. If you want the weekly news, 42 observations added in the past week puts the project's total count to 868. We are now literally fifty more reports away from breaking our 2020 record and that was my goal all along, to surpass our all-time low. And if we continue strong, we'll break the 2019 record.

Yesterday was really exciting for me, so the Observation of the Week goes to myself. While driving the road that hugs the Union/Baker county border, a Red-tailed Hawk take off from the field, flew past us, then looped back until it landed directly above. When I saw it in flight, I saw the bright white uppertail coverts and the person I was birding with saw the thin patagium and white underwings. As I leaned dangerously out my car window and taking photos of the bird above me, I saw the white throat, unmarked flanks and a heavily retained molt. This hawk is not a local. I think it's a give or take case, a more lightly marked abieticola or a more heavily marked borealis. Either way a vagrant that shouldn't be here, but maybe not so much. Maybe I'm just the luckiest hawk watcher out there, or these vagrants are more common than reported as this'll represent my fifth or sixth abieticola/borealis Red-tailed. You can see my photos here:

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/101861375

While you all eat a delicious turkey today, we are approaching the last week of November. Raptors are definitely coming in in strong numbers. Besides my vagrant Red-tailed, I also got two Harlan's (my fourth of the season), a Sharp-shinned, Rough-legged Hawk, a bunch of kestrels and my favorite spot, a Northern Pygmy-Owl. It is a perfect time for raptor watching, especially since the first snow fell this week. Good luck to you and have a good day!