September Summary

Top 5 Species (September):
Red-tailed Hawk -- 90 obs
Turkey Vulture -- 17 obs (+2)
American Kestrel -- 11 obs (returns to Top 5)
Northern Harrier -- 9 obs (new to Top 5)
Sharp-shinned Hawk -- 8 obs (new to Top 5)

Top 5 Species (Overall):
Red-tailed Hawk -- 174 obs
Turkey Vulture -- 50 obs (+2)
Osprey -- 49 obs (-1)
Swainson's Hawk -- 44 obs (-1)
American Kestrel -- 34 obs

Total Species Overall: 28

Top 5 Observers (Observations): birdwhisperer 170 obs, @andybridges 40 obs, @cgates326 35 obs, @jnelson 16 obs, and @uta_stansburiana 15 obs

Top 5 Observers (Species): birdwhisperer 15 species, cgates326 10 species, jnelson 9 species, andybridges 9 species, and @wyattherp 7 species

Species Still Not Observed: White-tailed Kite, Rough-legged Hawk, Snowy Owl, Northern Hawk-Owl, Spotted Owl, Boreal Owl, Gyrfalcon -- 7 species

New Species in September: Northern Goshawk, Broad-winged Hawk -- 2 species

Counties Needing Observations: WA -- Ferry, Columbia -- OR -- Gilliam, Morrow, Jefferson

News and What to Expect in September: As many of you are aware, each month has a different theme. July is wrapping up the breeding season of nesters. August is where we see all the local juveniles mastering flight and hunting. September is migration month and you need to watch the sky. While October... that's owl month. I don't know what makes this month so special but for some reason, this is the best time of year to go owling and be successful in hearing or seeing owls. In fact, I did a little owling last night and I got something that'll might make everyone jealous. Only problem is, I tried but could not record him... a Boreal Owl.

I only see it fitting to make the Observation of the Month be on the same species that I've been begging birders to fit, so without further adieu, @masonmaron gets the spotlight with his dark morph Broad-winged Hawk near Chelan. His report represents the second BWHA this year and the third one since I started this project in 2019. I am certain that BWHA are much more common than reported, we just need to find them and hopefully photograph them when we see them. You can see this excellent spot here:

https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/96436858

That's all I need to say for now. Just go out, photograph some raptors, if you have a free night, try recording some owl calls during night trips. We are just under the 500 observation threshold for this project and I really want to surpass the previous year's in observations. We're halfway over, and we are on pace to break the 2020 record, but not 2019. Photograph, photograph, photograph. Good luck to you all and hope you get some good hawks and owls!

Posted on 02 de outubro de 2021, 04:41 PM by birdwhisperer birdwhisperer

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