Diario del proyecto Inland Pacific Northwest Raptor Migration 2022

Top 5 Species (October):

1. Red-tailed Hawk -- 95 obs
2. American Kestrel -- 28 obs (+2)
3. Bald Eagle -- 26 obs (+2)
4. Northern Harrier -- 16 obs
5. Rough-legged Hawk -- 15 obs (new to Top 5)

Top 5 Species (Total):

1. Red-tailed Hawk -- 353 obs
2. Turkey Vulture -- 129 obs
3. American Kestrel -- 88 obs (+2)
4. Osprey -- 88 obs (-1)
5. Bald Eagle -- 77 obs (return to Top 5)

Total Species: 28

Top 5 Observers (Obs):

1. birdwhisperer -- 349 obs
2. @draginous -- 120 obs
3. @danithedeer -- 88 obs
4. @redband_ -- 59 obs
5. @cgates326 -- 59 obs

Top 5 Observers (Species):

1. redband_ -- 16 species
2. cgates326 -- 16 species
3. birdwhisperer -- 15 species
4. draginous -- 13 species
5. danithedeer -- 11 species

Species Still Not Observed: White-tailed Kite, Flammulated Owl, Snowy Owl, Northern Hawk-Owl, Spotted Owl, Short-eared Owl, and Gyrfalcon -- 7 left

Species Added in October: Barred Owl

Counties Needing Observations: None!!!

News and Updates:

With November at a close, we only have one month left before we say goodbye to the 2022 season of counting raptors. It's bittersweet but all good things must end. Right now, we are on pace to end the season with 1,377 observations, which will be an all-time high since I started this project. But that doesn't mean we can slack and say, we're going to break the record anyway. December is a great month to photograph raptors so keep up the good work.

I am several weeks behind so stay with me. For Week 21 (Nov 18-24), 63 observations from 11 species were submitted. The highlighted observation is a juvenile Rough-legged Hawk from Harney County, photographed by @jnelson. I'm surprised we're not seeing as many of these hawks as we should, but it really makes for a treat when you do see one.

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/142554824

Week 22 (Nov 25-Dec 1) has 58 observations from 11 species also. The Observation of the Week goes to @philkahler for a photo of a Walla Walla Prairie Falcon. From my experience, Prairie Falcon is a tough species to get in Walla Walla, especially compared to eastern Oregon where they are a dime a dozen. You can see the photos here:

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/143006550

Observation of the Month goes to redband_ for a Long-eared Owl spotted in Grant County, Washington. Despite being an absolutely awesome owl, these owls are at risk because of birders like us. When it became apparent to the general public that many of these owls live in the Columbia Basin, many birders and photographers started spooking them, causing them to be predated by Red-tailed Hawks or Great Horned Owls. When looking for Long-eared Owls, be exceptionally cautious.

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/141849786

That is all. Keep it up, we're almost through this. Only 140 observations to the all-time record. Look out for Gyrfalcons and Snowy Owls, I have a good feeling about them. Also, think about participating in your local Christmas Bird Count.

Merry Christmas folks! I hope you had a good day and that you can enjoying some time with family and loved ones. It's been a long time since I've posted, it's been a crazy month and I've been running all the place working overtime. But let's do a quick review of the past weeks.

Week 23 -- Dec 2-8
Only 35 observations from 10 species, the first full week of December was slow for the project. Observation of the Week goes to @redband_ for a photo of a juvenile Bald Eagle in Kittitas County, Washington. This species is super common in the Columbian Basin during the winter and I'm a little surprised we don't have more reports.

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/143831969

Week 24 -- Dec 9-15
Week 24 was our worst week throughout the entire project; only 15 observations, yet somehow still maintaining a 10 species count. The Observation of the Week goes to @pcjimi for submitting our first Short-eared Owl observation of the year, spotted in Wallowa County, Oregon. I've tried for this species a couple times this year but so far can't seem to get any luck. But with my Christmas Bird Count coming up this New Year's, I'm going to search pretty hard for one.

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/143831969

Week 25 -- Dec 16-22
We get up numbers back up to reasonable numbers this week, obtaining 58 observations from 14 species. Observation of the Week goes to @shearwater13 for an excellent daytime photo of a Great Horned Owl during what I presume to be the Walla Walla Christmas Bird Count. I have nothing to say about this except it's an amazing photo.

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/144774902

We officially have 7 DAYS LEFT until the project comes to end, and we finish this year's survey. It is important to know that we have not broken the all-time record like I projected. We ended 2021 with 1,281 observations, meaning we are 34 observations behind. Let's end the year with a bang and photograph some hawks, kestrels, eagles, owls, you name it. Thank you all for the help and Happy Holidays!