Happy 3rd B-earthday

On Earth Day 2007 I began this blog as a way to share my photographs with other people who were interested in birding and nature. Now here we are on Earth Day 2010 and the blog is still up and running with the number of readers, friends and followers steadily increasing. Over the past three years I have learned a lot about wildlife, blogging and myself and I would like to take this opportunity to thank each and every visitor to this blog.

I wish that I could invite you all over to my corner of the world and meet with you in person. Unfortunately that is not very realistic so I offer this photo as a tribute to you, all of my cyber friends. It is your comments and your continued visits that help me to fly free day after day.

Red-tailed Hawk Over Hawk Ridge

Hawk Ridge is one of the best places in North America to watch raptors during the fall migration. Each year as temps begin to fall many raptors begin their journey south. Some like osprey and broad-winged hawk are on their way to warm tropical climates. Other raptors, like red-tailed hawks and bald eagles, go only as far as necessary to find a spot where they will be able to find food through out the winter. All of them use thermals, warm air rising from the earth, to save energy as they migrate. Unfortunately the Great Lakes are large bodies of cold water and so there are no thermals so the birds choose to go around the lakes which is why many end up flying over Hawk Ridge. I photographed this red-tailed hawk flying over the ridge back in October.

Northern Goshawk Release

While as a rule I do not usually like to post pictures that I did not take on the blog there are exceptions to every rule. This is a picture of me releasing a northern goshawk, one of three birds that I adopted up at Hawk Ridge this fall. The northern goshawk is kind of a special bird up at Hawk Ridge because they see more migrating goshawks then any other hawk watch site in the world, they counted 5,819 in just one season back in 1982. Peak migration for northern goshawks at the ridge is October 10th through November 15th. So if you have ever dreamt of seeing a northern goshawk live and in person you should plan a trip up to Hawk Ridge in the fall. Your chances are good that you will see one and maybe even get to adopt one and release it back into the wild like I did.

Hawk Ridge

Fall is my favorite time of the year. I love the weather, with cool nights and comfortably warm days, I love the changing colors of the leaves, and I love watching the migrating birds. Usually during the fall is when I get to see and photograph a lot of raptors and this year has been even better then most. A lot of that has to do with all of the volunteer work that I have been doing lately. This weekend I spent Saturday up at Hawk Ridge in Duluth helping out. Some of the color is already gone, due to our early snow, but the view from up on the bluffs is still magnificent.

While I was up at Hawk Ridge I took the opportunity this time to adopt some birds. Adoption is one of the ways that the Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory supports all of the education and outreach programs that they do, not only during migration but year round in Duluth and the surrounding area. As part of the adoption you get the extreme privilege of holding your adopted bird and returning it back to the wild. At the times that I had volunteered earlier in the fall I held back on adopting birds to let other people get the opportunity to experience this rare privilege but with fall coming to an end, the education programs at the ridge end at the end of October, I decided that it was my turn. So I ended up adopting two northern goshawks.

Part of the reason that I decided to go up on Saturday was because it was the last time this year that they would be holding an owl program in the evening. I have really wanted to go to one of the owl programs but because of logistical reasons, like I live three hours away, I had not had the chance. So this time I reserved a hotel room and I was able to make it to the owl program. This was fortunate because it turned out to be a great night for owls. There were several owls that had been sent over from the banding stations and were ready for adoption when I arrived. Most of the owls that were adopted were northern saw-whet owls. These diminutive owls are one of the owls that I was really hoping to see and be able to photograph, since I did not yet have any saw-whet pics. There were five of them that were adopted and when they were released many of them were not in a hurry to leave.

Another owl that I did not have pictures of before Saturday was the long-eared owl. There were two of them that were up for adoption and so I decided that I would adopt one of them.

The final owl that was adopted that night was a barred owl. I have seen barred owls up close before, we have one as an education bird at The Raptor Center, and I have photographed one in the wild in Florida but I still have not photographed one in the wild in Minnesota. I have seen them quite a few times but usually they are gone before I get a chance to get a pic. Maybe I can change that this winter. If you want more info on Hawk Ridge or adopted birds at Hawk Ridge then check out their website here. They do take pics of the release but it will be a while before I get a copy of those, they have a lot of pictures to go through. Once I receive those pics I will make sure that I share them here.

Gyrfalcon

A week ago today was a pretty lucky day for me. I had decided to take the day off of work to go out an see if I could take some pics. The weather reports were predicting that it would be a nice day but that night we would get our first snow fall of the winter. My plan was to head up to Crex Meadows but as I headed north I found that it was cloudy near where I had to turn off for Crex. So I decided that I would continue on up to the North Shore of Lake Superior to photograph some fall color, as this would probably be my best chance with the snow moving in. On my way through I decided to stop up at Hawk Ridge to pick up the volunteer jacket that I had ordered. That is when I heard the news. One of the banding stations had trapped a gyrfalcon. Here is a picture of it being released.

The gyrfalcon is the largest member of the falcon family, with a wingspan of approximately four feet and a weight of over three pounds. This makes it bigger then most of the large hawks that we see in North America such as the red-tailed and rough-legged hawks. You can see from the picture above how large it is compared to a person. The wing shape looks more like that of a buteo, they are broader and blunter then the wings of the other falcons.

The reason why the gyrfalcon is so special is because it is completely an arctic species. These birds are circumpolar which means that they can be found in the tundra and taiga regions of North America, Greenland, Iceland, Europe, and Asia. Like the snowy owl, who shares a much of the same habitat, they do not migrate south during the winter unless there is a shortage of prey. Up at Hawk Ridge the last gyrfalcon counted before this one was back in 2001 and this is the first one that they have banded in 18 years, which should suggest just how significant a moment that this was.

Gyrfalcon mainly prey on ptarmigan, grouse, waterfowl, rough legged hawks, short-eared owls, lemmings, and ground squirrels. They are a strong fliers and typically hunt by chasing their prey, pursuing them in a fast low flight. Often they will finish the chase by flying up and then stooping, diving, down on top of their prey and forcing them to fly into the ground, frequently after they have worn them out with the chase.

They nest on the ledges of cliff faces usually in the borrowed stick nest of a golden eagle or other large bird, often protected from the weather by a depression or overhang. Eggs are laid in March or April, when the temperature is rarely above freezing. The female will often cache food near the nest during the breeding season so that she will have food to sustain her for the 34 to 36 day incubation period. This bird was a hatch year female. It is common to find that birds that do head south are typically young birds who have not yet found a territory of their own.

Do You Know What Type of Bird This is?

Hawk Ridge

Yesterday I did my first volunteer shift up at Hawk Ridge up in Duluth, MN. Since it is about a two and a half hour drive for me to get there I took an afternoon shift which ran from noon until they shut down at 4:30. It was a beautiful day with mostly clear skies. The wind was from the south west and we had consistent sighting through out the time that I was there.

Most of the birds coming through right now are the smaller raptors like American kestrels, merlins and sharp-shinned hawks. While the counters where busy up on the ridge the banding stations were busy capturing and banding raptors as part of Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory research programs. Many of these birds were brought up to the ridge where visitors could get a close up look and learn more about these fascinating birds. Visitors then had the opportunity to adopt the birds, for a small fee that helps to fund all of the programs at Hawk Ridge, and release them back into the wild. I always love to look at the expression on the face of a visitor who has just released a bird, that expression says it all.

Not all the birds migrating through now were small raptors though, we did see a couple of osprey go through. Since osprey eat primarily only fish they are pretty quick to start on the journey south before the water begins to freeze up. Many osprey spend the winter down in South America so these birds still had quite a long trip ahead of them.

We also saw a number of bald eagles flying through. Eagles are partial migrants, meaning that they will only go as far south as they need to so that they can find food, that is why we see large groupings of eagles where ever we have open water during the winter time. The other large birds that we saw up at the ridge while I was there were turkey vultures, which are currently classified as raptors, and one red-tailed hawk. As the migration continues into October and November the number of larger raptors flying over Hawk Ridge will increase.

The highlight of the day was when a peregrine falcon meandered by the side of the ridge at near eye level. This was unusual because peregrines usually zoom by the ridge hardly giving you more then a glance where this peregrine gave us all a great look. It was also unusual because this was a tundrius peregrine falcon which is an Arctic variety.

A few minutes after the peregrine passed by we heard from the counters that it had headed over near one of the banding stations. We all waited anxiously by the radio and a few minutes later the staff and volunteers exploded in excitement as we got word that they had captured the falcon. tundrius peregrines are smaller and lighter in color then the local peregrines in this area, which are typically of the anatum subspecies. tundrius peregrines do migrate through Hawk Ridge each year on their way to wintering grounds, which are along the Gulf Coast, Baha California, Central and South America, but this is very early in migration to see this type of bird.

It was determined that this was an immature female who was probably on her first migration, which might explain some of the unusual behavior. I was hoping to get the opportunity to adopt the bird, and already had my money out, but there is a waiting list to adopt peregrines at Hawk Ridge, many people adopt birds over the Internet and peregrines are very popular. Since the person adopting the bird was not present to release the bird Sarah, who was the naturalist on duty on Sunday, did the honors after we let all of the visitors present get a good close up look at a bird that many people will never see in their lifetime. Next weekend is Hawk Weekend which is the big celebration weekend at Hawk Ridge. I have signed up to work several shifts and if the weather cooperates I hope to post a lot more raptor pics next week.

The Final Answer to the Quiz

The final image (E) in the quiz was kind of a trick question. This is due to the fact that it comes from the same species as the eye in image B
Both the eye above and the one below both belong to sharp-shinned hawks, despite the obvious difference in color.

The reason for the difference is the age of the bird. Sharpies are born with yellow eyes. As the bird matures the eyes darken to red. So a first year sharpie has yellow eyes, a two year old would have orange eyes, like the one below, and a three year old or older would have red eyes like those above.

Hawk Ridge counts and bands many sharp-shinned hawks each fall. In 2008 12,608 sharp-shinned hawks were observed flying over Hawk Ridge During the fall migration. This is down from 2007, when 15253 were counted, and is below the average of the last five years of the survey, which is around 14,000.
Many Ornithologists believe that the lower count numbers, at various hawk watches during the fall migration, are not so much an indication of a decreasing population for the sharp-shinned hawk as much as it is a result of more availability of food for the sharpies. The increase in available sharpie food is a result of more people taking an interest in birds and putting out feeders to attract song birds. The feeders provide food for the passerines so that they do not have to head south to find food and this in turn provides a valuable food source for the sharpies and Coopers hawks allowing them to stay further north.

Answer 5: Rough-legged Hawk

The answer to number 5 (E) on the quiz, which may have been the hardest to identify was a rough legged hawk.
The reason why it was a bit more difficult then the others was the cloudiness at the top of the eye, as you can see here. This is the birds nictitating membrane.
This membrane is like a second eye lid which is partially transparent. The nictitating membrane helps to moisturize and protect the birds eye while still allowing it to some what see. All birds have a nictitating membrane as well as some mammals like cats. At one point man even had a nictitating membrane but since we did not have much use for it evolution took care of it and it is not a bunch of pink skin in the corner of our eye.
The rough-legged hawk gets its name from the fact that its feathers run all the way down its legs up to its feet. Most other hawks have scaly legs instead of feathers. The only other hawk with feathered legs that is found in North America is the ferruginous hawk, although golden eagles also have feathers down to their feet.

Rough-legged hawk spend their summers up in the conifer forests and tundra of northern Canada, Alaska, Siberia and northern Europe. During the winter they head south to more temperate climates where prey is more abundant.
Rough-legs are similar in size to red-tailed hawks but are usually easily identified by their feathered legs. In flight, when the legs may not be visible, the rough-leg can often be identified by the black wrist patch and the thick black band on the tail which is followed by white tips, although there are a variety of different color morphs for rough-legs.
Rough-legs hunt very similarly to red-tailed hawks. Often hunting from an elevated perch at the border of an open field or hovering in the air above the field. They are looking for small rodents just like the red-tails. During the summer this is not an issue because the breeding grounds of the rough-leg is further north but during the winter, when the rough-legs are spread through out most of the continental US, except the south east corner, there is competition between rough-legs and red-tails for food.
This bird, like many of the birds banded at Hawk Ridge, was adopted and then released back into the wild. Look at the face of someone releasing a bird and you can see the pure joy that this experience brings. There is nothing like holding one of these powerful and majestic raptors and then letting it go free back into the wild where it belongs.

Answer 4: Northern Goshawk

Eye Number 4 (D) on the quiz belonged to a northern goshawk.
The northern goshawk are found in most northern regions around the world, including Alaska, Canada, Siberia and northern Europe, as well as higher elevations, like the Rocky Mountains, Sierra Nevada Mountains, the Cascades and Mexican Highlands.
The northern goshawk is the largest member of the Accipiter genus found in North America, the other North American Accipiters would be the sharp-shinned and Cooper's hawks.
On their breeding territory the northern goshawk can be extremely defensive, often defending its nest from predators as large as wolves, bears or even man.

During the winter many goshawks stay on their territory in the north but when the availability of prey becomes scarce then goshawks will begin to move south in search of food.
This goshawk was on his way south when he spotted what appeared to be a starling that was injured. What the goshawk found though was that the starling was bait at one of the banding stations that are set up around Hawk Ridge during the fall migration.
The bird was either trapped in a bow net, a circular net that is placed on the ground in front of the lure which springs shut when a raptor is inside, or mist nets, black nets that the birds do not see as they fly down towards the bait. Once in the mist net the bird is caught in a pocket, that is built into the nets, hopefully long enough for a bander to run out of the blind and secure the captured bird.
Birds that are captured are banded with a unique band from the US Fish and Wildlife Service. The band is recorded, along with information on the bird such as type, size and approximate age, and then the bird is brought up to the ridge to be adopted.
As you can see from the photos, which were taken by Debbie the Educational Director at the Hawk Ridge Observatory, I adopted this bird, on October 10th, 2008, and got the privilege of releasing it unharmed back into the wild. This was not soon enough for the goshawk who, like most of the Accipiters who are banded, was very vocal about the time that he spent with us at Hawk Ridge.

Camera Critters:Immature Red-tail

The third eye (C) in the quiz belongs to the bird pictured below.

When I first caught a glimpse of this bird, as the volunteers at Hawk Ridge were bringing it in to do an informative program, I thought that it was a northern goshawk because of its coloration.

As soon as I got a better look at the shape and the pattern I realized that it was an immature red-tailed hawk and not a goshawk. I don't think that he was happy that I mistook hm for a goshawk because he kept sticking his tongue out at me.

Red-tailed hawks are pretty common through out North America except for the extreme northern arctic regions. They are what is called a border species because they are typically found at the edge of a forest where it meets open fields. Typically the red-tail will roost in a tree and keep his eye on the field waiting to find a rodent, squirrel, rabbit, snake or other prey to swoop down on. This red-tail was adopted up at Hawk Ridge on October 18th. As part of the adoption the person who adopts the bird gets to release it back into the wild, as long as they are present.

This young red-tail headed on south after he was released. Many red-tails stay in Minnesota even through the winter, so it is possible that it may have been almost through with migration when it was banded up at Hawk Ridge.