Searching for Hawks

 

Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) Juvenile

Searching for hawks brought me to the desert once again. Every year thousands of Swainson's Hawks (Buteo swainsoni) migrate through the desert in Borrego Springs. Hal Cohen co-founded the official Borrego Springs Hawkwatch to record these magnificent birds each year 19 years ago. As with any bird sighting, there are no guarantees on what you may see. If you keep your eyes open, you may even get some unexpected surprises of some sort.

Hal Cohen and observer

It all starts in the evening. Scouts go out looking for the descending hawks at sunset. When they arrive, they roost in tamarisk or date trees. Most often, there are some migrating Turkey Vultures (Cathartes aura) in the roost trees as well. If the numbers are over 100, Hal will send followers an alert for those who want to take a chance to see these beautiful hawks take flight in the morning. 

2017 Wildflower Bloom

2017 White-lined Sphinx Moth caterpillar

In years when there is sufficient winter rainfall, wildflowers and caterpillars cover the desert floor. In these years, the migrating hawks take advantage of this bountiful food and fill up before they continue their long journey. Some of these Swainson's Hawks travel up to 5,000 miles from Argentina northward to Canada. Due to the low precipitation this year, there are very few wildflowers and insects so the hawks have been continuing their journey after a short stay before resuming their migration path. 

Kettle by Rich Shutler

Swainson's Hawks by Randy Lenon

Early in the morning, the official counters, scouts, observers and others who are just plain curious show up to watch. While I was there, a few different kettles of spiraling upward hawks and vultures appeared in the distance. Once they start to stream, head out towards the canyon in a straight path, the counting begins. I was in charge of counting vultures - 81. On this morning, over 250 Swainson's hawks were counted. It was quite a spectacle to view! Over 5400 hawks have passed through Borrego Springs this season. The official watch days will be ending in mid-April.

To read up more on the hawk watch or to join the alert, go to Hal's blog at

http://borregohawkwatch.blogspot.com/

Beavertail Cactus

When the hawk watching was over, I was off looking for some more birds.

Sometimes you get lucky and the birds show up at your campsite. 

Black-throated Sparrow (Amphispiza bilineata)

That's what happened with this singer. As you can tell by the video, it was an extremely windy camping trip. 

Wild Turkey 

I love the unexpected. This turkey was definitely a surprise for me! I had to stop the car for this one.

The rainbow on my final day was a perfect way to end the hawk searching trip.

Keep your eyes to the skies! A lot of action is taking place now!

Click on photos to enlarge.

Photos and content by Robin Roberts, Randy Lenon, and Richard Shutler.

Mountain Birding - The Last Days of Winter

Spring officially arrives in three days but you wouldn't know it based on the recent snowstorm. One advantage of backyard birding in the winter is that you may get some birds that don't normally visit during the other months of the year.

Cassin's Finch (Haemorhous cassinii)

The Cassin's Finch is a high-altitude breeder. Although some of these birds migrate south in the winter, others just go down to a lower altitude during the snowy winter. We were lucky to have 7 of these beauties in our yard this week. Notice the males have bright red heads with a pink wash on the unstreaked chest. You may be saying to yourself, I get those birds at my feeders all year round but you may have this one mistaken for...

House Finch (Haemorhous mexicanus)

...the Hollywood Finch. What? This west coast bird was introduced to the east coast in pet trading in the early 1940's. They were named "Hollywood Finches" to increase their allure. However, this industry wasn't legal and birds were released from cages in New York. These highly adaptable birds have now spread across the US and they frequent our birdfeeders regularly through the year. For an entertaining article on the topic, go to  https://www.audubon.org/news/the-house-finch. If you look closely, the chest is streaked with a red versus pink wash. Although their most basic coloring is red, some will be varying shades of orange based on their diet.

While lots of people "flocked" to our mountains to sled and to build snowmen, I went down to Garner Valley in search of birds that will never visit my yard. (Of course, you should never say "never". There's always the chance of a surprise.) BTW, isn't that the most creative snowman you've ever seen?

Western Meadowlark (Sturnella neglecta)

Here is where I found song duels between the meadowlarks. Their song carries across grassland for such a long way. Whenever I try to find this songster, it's always much further away than it sounds.

Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis)

I also found a wintering Merlin, resident American Kestrels, and this majestic Red-tailed Hawk hunting from its perch. Like I mentioned earlier, never say "never" since surprises may show up....

Mountain Chickadee (Poecile gambeli viridi)

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Click on photos to enlarge.

Photos and content by Robin Roberts.

Hidden in Sight

 

Nature is full of life that may not be obvious unless you are closely searching and open to surprises. Imagine trying to find this nocturnal Tawny Frogmouth in Australia. Even though I knew it was part of the Australian exhibit at the Living Desert Zoo and Gardens, I still had a hard time finding it. They are masters of camouflage!

It helps tremendously when something shows up unexpectedly to announce its presence. That is how I found the nesting hummingbird. I watched her fly into a bush and settle into a nest. Whoa! A nest! I wasn't expecting that. This was a first for me. (Note- My camera has a zoom lens so I could take this photo from several feet away so that I wouldn't bother her.)

 Some nesting birds are easier to find than others. I watched an adult Great Blue Heron fly to the top of a tall tree facing another nearby tree. In that tree was a large platform nest with huge chicks. They were pretty hard to miss but the adult helped so did a tip from a fellow birder at Sunnylands Estate.

 The desert fan palm, Washingtonia filifera, is a perfect place to look for hidden birds feasting on the tasty seeds or nesting behind the frond skirt. Lots of birds like the Cedar Waxwings are attracted to these palms filling up before their migration northward.

Verdin

Sweet Acacia

Brittlebush

Fairyduster

I went searching for spring in the desert since it hasn't arrived in the mountains yet. In fact, as I write, snow is falling outside my window.

When night falls, I suspect the grey fox that is mostly hidden from sight will return to our snow-covered backyard while we are sleeping.

I end with the adorable wallabies in the Australian exhibit at the Living Desert Zoo and Gardens. They were not hidden. Instead, they patiently posed for me.

Happy Exploring!

Photos and content by Robin Roberts.

Click on photos to enlarge.