Borrego Valley Hawkwatch 2012 - Part III

The last few days have been kind of slow as far as Swainson's Hawk numbers go, but last night made up for that. The evening sky was full of hawks; estimates ranged from 300 to 600. It was a spectacular sight. There were also 5 Coyotes near the evening site that put on quite a show greeting and jostling each other while howling. It was quite a wildlife moment.

I've added 2 new birds to my list: Black-throated Gray Warbler and Lark Sparrow. Both birds have beautiful coloring and markings. Some day when I get more savvy I will add links and/or photos of the birds I mention.

Well, 2 more "Hawkwatches" and then I'm headed home tomorrow. Wade follows on Monday. It has been a fabulous trip, can't wait for next year! Thanks for sharing it with me!

Hawkwatch 2012 was a great experience

Borrego Valley Hawkwatch 2012 - Part II



(Very) Happy Campers

The last week has been great, watching hawks morning and night; enjoying time with friends old and new. I saw a "new bird" recently - a Lesser Nighthawk. Look it up, it has very distinctive white wing bars. Yesterday I also saw a Great Egret fly across the valley; an unusual sight in the desert. Counts for the last week (for me, not the Hawkwatch official total) are as follows:

3/21 - 46 SWs and 8 TVs
3/22 - 465 SWs
3/23 - 711 SWs and 42 TVs
3/24 - 270 SWs and 60 TVs
3/25 - 165 SWs 0 TVs
3/26 - 26 SWs and 1 TV
3/27 - 294 SWs and 12 TVs

As you can see the numbers vary greatly from day to day, as do the viewing conditions. Sometimes they fly right overhead and sometimes they are 1-2+ miles away. I am really appreciating my new binoculars. It makes it much easier to see/count and I can also more readily distinguish hawks from vultures.

In addition to the hawks, I have also seen an assortment of other birds, including Quail, Verdin, Cactus Wren, Kingbird and Kestrel. There is also a pack of 4 Coyotes that we see and hear almost daily at the evening sight. They come fairly close to us and are so beautiful.

I've been lucky enough to do some hawk "chasing" with some of the leaders, going where the hawks are and learning a lot about their behavior and migration. This has provided me with several "up close" views of the hawks. They are so majestic and interesting to watch. I'm hopelessly addicted to this experience!

View from evening site

A beautiful desert sunset and a kettle of Swainson's
(ok, black specks high in the sky)

Borrego Valley Hawkwatch 2012 - Part I

Swainson's Hawk
 (photo taken through scope)

We've been camping at Palm Canyon Resort since Saturday. We "survived" the huge storm that passed through over the weekend. Lots of rain and wind, plus COLD temperatures. The storm left a lot of snow on the surrounding mountains and made for beautiful vistas.

Despite the weather, I've been out at the Hawkwatch, morning and evening. It's so great to be here. Also my long-time friend Jane is visiting us from Alaska and has joined us out here in Borrego. Yesterday her sister Janice also joined us. We have all been friends since Jr. High so it is very special to be together again and share this experience.

I will list Swainson's totals below, but want to specifically talk about Monday morning. It was Jane's first day here and we headed out to the morning site. Along the way we saw a group of parked cars so we stopped to see what was going on. There were 200+ Swainson's in the trees very near the road. In the bare branches they were very easy to observe. Over the next couple of hours we saw nearly 300 SWs. Overall the count for the day was over 550! The birds rose up and kettled right overhead and we were treated to spectacular views of the hawks. Jane and I were overwhelmed; it was amazing. I had to give Jane a hard time about her beginner's luck and explained how I had paid my dues over the last 5 years!

Below are the birds I've seen, not overall totals. If you are interested there is now a blog at borregohawkwatch.blogspot.com that lists all the totals and gives lots of detailed information about the Swainson's and the Hawkwatch.

3/16 - 4 SWs, 12 TVs, Anna's, White Crown Sparrow, Ravens, Flicker and Kestrel
3/17 - 0 SWs, Kingbird, Kestrel, Raven
3/18 - 250 SWs, Red Tail Hawk, Raven
3/19 - 300 SWs, 35 TVs.
3/20 - 115 SWs, Kestrel, Raven, Wilson's Warbler, Cactus Wren, White Crown Sparrow, Anna's and
Costa's, Say's Phoebe
3/21 - In campground, saw a YELLOW house finch. A first for me. Evidently it is a dietary issue that causes the birds to be yellow.

Stormy weather

Beautiful Mountains

Snow the day after the storm.

 

Swainson's in trees!