September Summary
It is Wednesday so normally I would do my weekly report but it's also the last day of September so let's do the summary while we are at it. Observation of the Week will be presented with monthly observation.
Top 5 Species (August):
Red-tailed Hawk -- 36 obs
Turkey Vulture -- 12 obs (+2 spots)
Swainson's Hawk -- 10 obs (-1 spot)
Great Horned Owl -- 9 obs (returns to Top 5)
Northern Harrier -- 8 obs (new to Top 5)
Top 5 Species (Overall):
Red-tailed Hawk -- 105 obs
Swainson's Hawk -- 61 obs (+1 spot)
Osprey -- 55 obs (-1 spot)
Turkey Vulture -- 32
Great Horned Owl -- 30 (returns to Top 5)
Total Species Overall: 26
Top 5 Observers (Observations): birdwhisperer 128 obs, @cgates326 37, @masonmaron 24 obs, @josegarrido 18 obs, @uta_stansburiana 17 obs
Top 5 Observers (Species): birdwhisperer 16 species, uta_stansburiana 10 species, cgates326 10 species, masonmaron 8 species, josegarrido 7 species
Species Still Not Observed: White-tailed Kite, Rough-legged Hawk, Snowy Owl, Northern Hawk-Owl, Spotted Owl, Short-eared Owl, Boreal Owl, Northern Saw-whet Owl and Gyrfalcon -- 9 species
New Species in September: Sharp-shinned Hawk, Western Screech-Owl and Great Gray Owl
Counties Needing Observations: WA (4) -- Ferry, Pend Oreille, Klickitat and Columbia -- OR (2) -- Morrow and Wheeler
News and What to Expect in October: We have been on par this year for submitting the same amount of observations per month. We are now have 437 observations for the project and well, we didn't achieve my goal during the week. We are down forty observations from last year when I first started these surveys. It's been a tough year so I suppose we can use that as an our excuse for our slacking, including me. Don't take it too hard.
Over the week, we jump our observation count and added 33 new observations. And out of those new submissions, I believe the observation of the week should go to masonmaron for an beautiful capture of a female Barn Owl in Washtucna . This is one of the few raptor species that are sexually dimorphic, which means males and females have distinct plumages. Males are very white below while females are tawny. And I can say without a doubt, this is one of the tawniest Barn Owls I've seen. Observation can be seen below.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/60601991
Observation of the month, goes to an observation submitted earlier this month that didn't get the recognition it deserves. For September, it goes to @philkahler for an intermediate morph Swainson's Hawk in Walla Walla. Like the Red-tailed Hawk, I am fascinated by Swainson's by the variety of color morphs. Their boldness to plowing farmers is also a favorite trait too, especially when I can even get within 100 yards of a Red-tail without them having a spasm attack. You can see that observation here:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/58925626
Ok, now it is the time to discuss what we should see in October. Our first Rough-legged Hawks should come in this week and that will complete the Buteo cycle. This is also the time to find owls. Boreal and Barred Owl are now "expected" on the ebird filters now so I'm going to see just how expected these species are. I would also keep an eye for White-tailed Kites. It would be nice to get it but there's only one inland WA/OR record and that was over forty years ago. But they're nomadic so you never know. That just about covers it fellas, good raptor watching!
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