RAPTOR SURVEY

On Saturday, December 17, Liam and I completed our first Raptor Survey for Butte County (south). This route begins inside Graylodge NWR and terminates at the Oroville forebay, it took 6 hours to complete. The number and variety of red-tailed hawks was overwhelming. Along Pennington Road we encountered as may as twelve at a time, making driving and tallying a fun challenge (we just left our flashers on the entire day)! Light morph red-tails well out-numbered all other plumages, making the rufous and dark morphs that much more spectacular (photos above ). Red-Tailed hawks accounted for 171 of the 307 raptors surveyed. The ubiquitous turkey vulture seemed to be with us constantly; above the skyline or tilting overhead throughout the whole day, 45 of these were tallied. Northern harriers were likewise a fixture on the horizon, 38 were observed along the route with females making up the greater number. American kestrels ornamented the roadside wires (25) and one of the highlights of the day was watching a pair of males grapple in mid-air, fall to the ground with talons locked and wrestle on the black-top for seconds before a victor was determined – both flew off seemingly unharmed. White-tailed kites were relatively easy to spot at a distance and 14 of them were seen either perched at the tops of small trees, or ‘kiting’ above wheat or rice-fields. A few of the 7 red-shouldered hawks observed sported stunning pink/orange breasts, while the mottled juveniles normally took us a few moments longer to classify. Our ‘highlights’ for the day were: an immature bald eagle on a snag over a pond on Afton Road, 2 rough-legged hawks – one in a conifer behind a residence on Pennington Road (second time seen there) and another on a small tree on Afton Road, A lone ferruginous hawk standing out bright white against a burned field on Wilbur Road near the Thermalito Afterbay, and 3 ‘accipiter species’ believed to be 2 Cooper’s and a sharp-shinned (photo above ). Our most unusual sighting for the day were 35 black-crowned night herons in a single tree over a small pond on Afton Road. Bird well. Scott Huber Chico