October Summary

Top Five Species (October):

1. Red-tailed Hawk -- 81 obs
2. Turkey Vulture -- 23 obs
3. American Kestrel -- 21 obs (+2)
4. Northern Harrier -- 13 obs (new to Top 5)
5. Bald Eagle -- 11 obs (return to Top 5)

Top Five Species (Overall):

1. Red-tailed Hawk -- 236 obs
2. Turkey Vulture -- 127 obs
3. Osprey -- 88 obs
4. Swainson's Hawk -- 67 obs
5. American Kestrel -- 51 obs (new to Top 5)

Total Species: 27

Top Five Observers (Obs):

1. birdwhisperer -- 273 obs
2. @draginous -- 93 obs
3. @cgates326 -- 42 obs
4. @danithedeer -- 39 obs
5. @redband_ -- 24 obs

Top Five Observers (Species):

1. birdwhisperer -- 13 species
2. cgates326 -- 12 species
3. draginous -- 11 species
4. redband_ -- 11 species
5. @philkahler -- 10 species

Species Not Observed: White-tailed Kite, Flammulated Owl, Snowy Owl, Northern Hawk-Owl, Spotted Owl, Barred Owl, Short-eared Owl, and Gyrfalcon -- 8 left

Species Added in October: Rough-legged Hawk and Boreal Owl

Counties Needing Observations: WA (2) -- Douglas and Asotin

News and Updates:

Wintering is still continuing to pound on us. Despite this, I was all over the states for work and when I had time, I was looking for raptors. Umatilla county was particularly good this week. I also found what would've been the latest Union County record of a Turkey Vulture, but the bird was unfortunately, the vulture was recently deceased, likely a victim of our first snowstorm. All in all, 55 observations from 12 species were submitted in Week 18. That' pretty darn good if you ask me.

Observation of the Week goes to @eblanton5704 for a photo of an adult Bald Eagle in Okanogan County, Washington. Though they breed sporadically throughout the project's perimeters, most of eagles are wintering migrants from Canada, and as winter continues its course, we will see more eagles. Keep out an eye out for them!

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/140611679

Observation of the Month goes to @thrashedout for a Red-tailed Hawk in Klamath County, Oregon. I don't really have much to say about this obs except that it's an exceptional photo. But sometimes, even the common species need the spotlight.

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/140274388

Not much to say in the way of news. I personally haven't seen my Rough-legged Hawk yet, and owling hasn't been too kind to me. We are however, precisely 80 observations behind our 2020 stats. I know we'll break that in two weeks, but let's push it. Find some raptors and let's break that record.

Publicado el 04 de noviembre de 2022 por birdwhisperer