MessageHi Jack and Tweeters

I stopped by Wilson Creek on the way home from the very successful WOS conference in Republic. I was able to see two juvenile Ferruginous Hawks near the nest. The first one was flying and I got a good view as it came in, hovered and landed on a rock - very pale but with a very light buffy upper breast, very white tail, bits of black flecking on the flanks, white leggings. Try plate 448, p. 384 and plate 449, p. 385 in Raptors of Western North America by Brian K. Wheeler. A ways east was a second young bird perched on another rock on the edge of the cliffs.

Just before this, along bluffs closer to Wilson Creek there was a juvenile Red-tailed Hawk with an adult circling overhead calling incessantly.

Brian H. Bell
Woodinville WA
mailto:bellasoc at isomedia.com

----- Original Message -----
From: Jack Stephens
To: Tweeters
Sent: Monday, June 19, 2006 9:53 PM
Subject: [Tweeters] Ferruginous Hawks at Wilson Creek?


On the way back from the WOS conference, Marvin Cooper and I stopped by Wilson Creek. We dipped on the Tricolored Blackbirds there; the increased water in marsh seems to have reduced the number of all species of blackbirds. We did check out the north side of the marsh, and found two adult Red-tailed Hawks circling and calling out over a Barn Owl hunkered down in the rocky outcrops. Further on, we saw two buteos perched on the rocks near where Ferruginous Hawks have nested in the past. They acted like juvenile birds, calling out, hopping around and scratching but never took flight. It was my understanding that the Ferruginous Hawks that were nesting there had abandoned the nest site, and I assumed these were recently fledged Red-tails.
In review of my references back home, now I think they could have been Ferruginous fledglings. There was a nest on the rock face by the perched birds and white wash on the rock face. Does anyone know if this Ferruginous nest site is still active? It also raises the question, once a nest is abandoned, how long does it take for the nest to fall apart and the whitewash to wash away? In other words, is finding whitewash on a rock face a sign of recent bird activity, or can that persist for some weeks or months afterwards?
Thanks in advance for any and all input.

Jack Stephens
jstephens62 at comcast.net
Edmonds, WA


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