A SKY FULL OF RAPTORS

Four of us birded the Klamath Basin, Shasta Valley in California and Tule Lake in California.  The skies were full of raptors; the waters abounded with waterfowl.

Most duck species present could be counted by the thousands: Canvasbacks, Pintails, Ruddy Ducks, Green-winged Teal, Wigeon.  Then there were the water surfaces alive with Coots.  In fields where rodents dwell and in the skies above: over 8o Red-tailed Hawks, 22 Ferruginous Hawks, 22 Harriers counted (not a single male), 12 Rough-legged Hawks, 3 Prairie Falcon, 5 Kestrel, 4 Golden Eagles and 5 Bald.  In addition there were the raptor auxiliary: dozens of Ravens and about 30 Black-billed Magpies.

But first, in this age of snark, I must ask, “Is it still allowed to write “majestic” and mean it?”  Judge California’s tallest volcano (Shasta) for yourself: Here, Ferruginous Hawk, holding ground.Rough-legged Hawk looking a little uneasy that high up in a tree, about thirty feet taller than any plant he finds in his breeding tundralands. Young Golden Eagle who’d been shring a jackrabbit carcass with a Bald Eagle, Ravens and Magpies in Butte Valley.

This should be one of Aesop’s Fables, “The Golden Eagle and the Raven.” We first noticed this pair of adult Bald Eagles on a crossbar, side by side.  The male flew our across the field, the female held her post on the post.

MY BEST PICTURES OF THE DAY; BONAPARTE’S VICTORIOUS

There were over a hundred of these gulls still feeding over Tule Lake.  Other lingering “summer” birds included some White Pelicans and adult Western Grebes feeding full-grown but still-begging young.  I have a photo sequence of that to post tomorrow.

One of the small groups of Eared Grebes at Tule Lake:One of the hundreds of American Pipits now in Shasta Valley.More photos from today on the morrow.