02-27-13 Bird Field Note

02-27-13 Bird Field Note

February 28, 2013

Eric Rasmussen's Field Note recounts merlin, kestrel, and bohemian waxwing observations.

Rough-legged hawks continue to hunt on the ranch daily. Three or four are often visible from mid-elevation ridges. This bird flew off when a Red-tailed Hawk arrived.

This the territorial Red-tailed Hawk that bumped the Rough-legged Hawk.

A dark Red-tailed Hawk captures a vole near Partridge Alley.

With spring coming some Red-tailed Hawks appear near known territories. I saw a hawk with a stick fly to the Sheep Camp nest. It placed one stick in and tossed another out. It looked like a “spring cleaning” of the nest.

This ruffed grouse was caught out in the middle of a branch when a Cooper’s Hawk buzzed through Woodchuck Creek. The best defense at the moment was to be still.

A pileated woodpecker did not stop feeding on a cottonwood when the hawk flew by. It did hop around the opposite side of the trunk though.

Bohemian waxwing flocks use many eyes to scan for accipiters and falcons.

A Merlin waits patiently for a flock of birds to lift. I see them diving on flocks of waxwings often, sometimes without much effort, as if they are just playing.

Over the winter, this un-banded, male American Kestrel has been seen at the entrance gate.

Golden Eagle 204 was banded on 1/5/13, and aged and sexed as a second-year male. He weighed 9.250 pounds and had a blood-lead level of 12.4 micrograms/deciliter, which is just above background.

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02-27-13 Bird Field Note

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