Subject: [Tweeters] Columbia Hills Raptor IBA winter survey Klickitat Cty,
Date: Dec 12 21:45:54 2004
From: Dennis Manzer - manzed_99 at myway.com


Hi, Tweets! Please forgive the use of 4-letter codes. I can't get that many columns if they're all spelled out. Birdnotes is down at the moment so I'm doing this the long way. Lauryn Garza & I travelled the 25 mile route from 0830 - 1449 = 6:19. The route was generally W - E along Hoctor Rd. w/a couple of side rd. jaunts for a combined total of about 25mi. excluding the backtrack. The first stop was just S of the viewpoint on US Hwy 97 approx 2.7 mi. S of Hoctor Rd. We made an attempt to stop approximately every 0.6 mi. but it got away from me a couple of times for a total number of 36 stops.

Temp est'd 36f, wind chill 15f, windy 15-25kph, 75 - 100% cloudy, 0 precip, baro pressure 30.02" & rising. Habitat was primarily plateau ag lands sown to wheat with some wind-stunted scrubby oak woodlots & the occasional Ponderosa Pine & mixed oak/pine forest. Elevation varied from 1650' - 2360'. I panicked at one point as we were glassing & we both caught a very large, very white bird glide to a ground perch only to disappear in the ground cover. It did show prominent black wingtips & upon checking _Sibley_, at least confirmed it wasn't a Snowy Owl. We searched & searched from several different vantage points but the bird never was refound. Most likely it was a m NOHA. Bonuses included 3 NORTHERN SHRIKE, 2 TOWNSEND SOLITAIRE, 3 LEWIS' WOODPECKER, 1 DOWNY WOOODPECKER, 27 COMMON RAVEN, 12 BLACK-BILLED MAGPIE, 2 WESTERN MEADOWLARK, 1 AMERICAN ROBIN, 10 HOUSE FINCH, CALIFORNIA QUAIL (heard only), BLUEBIRD spp (heard only), ~60 EUST,!
1 AMERICAN CROW all within our route & 1 SHARP-SHINNED HAWK off of our route stop# time mileage COHA NOHA RTHA RLHA GOEA AMKE PRFA NSHR CORA 1 0830-0850 116.2 1 2 2 1 1 2 0852-0855 117.1 NO RAPTORS 3 0856-0905 117.9 2 2 4 0905-0909 118.2 1 5 0910-0913 118.9 NO RAPTORS ( Intersection of US Hwy 97 & Hoctor ) 6 0915-0916 119.3 NO RAPTORS 7 0922-0941 119.8 2 8 8 0946-0948 120.4 NO RAPTORS 9 0949-0951 121 NO RAPTORS 10 0952-0955 121.7 NO RAPTORS 11 0959-1014 122.3 1 2 2 12 1022!
-1043 123.1 2 3
5 13 1122-1125 123.2 1 14 1132-1142 126.5 1 15 1144-1146 126.9 1 16 1147-1149 127.4 1 17 1151-1154 128.1 1 18 1155 128.3 1 19 1156-1158 128.6 2 20 1200-1208 129.3 1 1 21 1210-1212 130.1 1 (dark) 22 1214-1234 130.6 1 1 2 1 2 23 1237 131 !
1 24 1241-1308 132 1 2 1 25 1310-1312 132.6 NO RAPTORS 26 1314 133 1 27 1315-1317 133.5 NO RAPTORS 28 1319-1320 134.3 ( Oak Flat & Hoctor ) 1 29 1330 135.9 1 ( Williamson & Oak Flat ) 30 1335 136.1 1 31 1337 136.6 1 1 32 1350-1402 138.8 NO RAPTORS ****We originally missed Fenton/Ferguson so this is where we backtracked *** 33 1425 146.4 1 1 34 1429-1431 146.8 2 1 !
1 35 1440-1443 147.3 2 1

1 36 1445-1449 147.6 NO RAPTORS TOTAL BY SPECIES:

COoper's HAwk = 2NOrthern HArrier = 8Red-Tailed HAwk = 20Rough-Legged HAwk = 10GOlden EAgle = 2AMerican KEstrel = 3PRairie FAlcon = 1Raptor total: 46Common Raven = 27Black-billed Magpie = 12 ( 5 at #12, & 7 at #35)Northern Shrike = 3

This report was prepared in collaboration from the field observations & notes of Lauryn Garza & Dennis Manzer.

Cheers!

Dennis

Yours for better birding!

Dennis E. ManzerBeaverton, OR 97006manzed_99 at myway.com

_______________________________________________
No banners. No pop-ups. No kidding.
Make My Way your home on the Web - http://www.myway.com