Diario del proyecto Inland Pacific Northwest Raptor Migration 2022

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.

Week 19 is over and done with. Winter has fully set in northeastern Oregon, I'm not sure how everyone else is coping. Over the past week, 68 observations from 14 species were submitted to the project. I also have some big news coming up.

Observation of the Week goes to @fishaspey for a photo of a female Rough-legged Hawk spotted near Flora, Oregon. I have a particular fancy for these hawks, and I hope we see a few more in the coming weeks. You can view those photos here:

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/141659241

Folks, it is official, we have broken the 2020 record for observations. With 931 behind us, we now need to target our 2019 record of 1,066. We are only 130 observations away and if we can keep submitting photos at the pace we are, we can sure to break it in about two weeks. Let's do it!

There is only six weeks left, and in the twentieth week of this project, we added 77 observations from 15 species. That's a really good week for us, good job!

Observation of the Week goes to @elkedavis for an excellent photo of a male American Kestrel in Umatilla, Oregon. The kestrel is proving to be a rather common species this year and perhaps our only chance for a third species surpassing the 100-observation mark. If you want to see a kestrel, you can find them in just about any open field on a telephone wire. You can see the photo here:

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/141756688

While we are on the topic of kestrels, I've got some more good news to share. We have officially broken 1,000 observations for the project. And that observation that broke this milestone just so happens to be a kestrel, photographed by @danithedeer in Jefferson County, Oregon. You can that observation here:

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/142403178

The only other news I have for you is that our first Barred Owl was reported. We are 60 observations away from breaking our 2019 record, which we can easily get this week if we repeat our success.