Jo Hays Vista Hawk Watching, September 14, 2011

I got a late start today at Jo Hays Vista, but it didn't matter because the valley was covered in a thick blanket of haze until about 3:40.  I arrived at 12:00, and I was joined by Chuck Widdman shortly after.  The wind was nonexistant, and local Turkey Vultures weren't even flying around.  Monarchs just seemed to float in mid air with no help from any updrafts or thermals. At 2:00, Chuck spotted our first bird of the day, a far away accipiter, trying to get some lift near a Turkey Vulture.  The bird never came back into view and took the southern edge of the ridge versus flying over us.  About half an hour later, Chuck spotted an adult Bald Eagle in a quick powered flight right over tree level and the road. Apparently he couldn't find any thermals either in the thick haze.  A few local Red-tailed Hawks cruised over the valley eventually, and while they got some height, they were never able to break through the haze.  Eventually, some clouds started to break, and after a few gray clouds passed, they were replaced with a bunch of nice fluffy white clouds.  I got a text from Drew Weber on campus that said he had between 100 and 200 Broad-winged Hawks circling over the stadium.  We were worried we would miss them in the thick haze that was only slowly lifting over the valley, but within about 25 minutes, a huge kettle of Broad-wings was visible way out over the valley against a white puffy cloud.  Todd Stawser had showed up just before this and was able to help us count this kettle, as they glided off to the west and towards our ridge.  While this was happening, Chuck was on another kettle that was gliding off to the east, comparable in size to the first at about 190.  Eventually, smaller kettles of new birds started forming just west of the radio towers, and before we knew it, our Broad-winged count was at 453!  An Osprey, a few Northern Harriers, and American Kestrels also flew through during this push when the weather cleared, and in the last few hours of the day, Chet and Sue Gottfried showed up to help us spot a few more kestrels, 2 more Bald Eagles, and a Sharp-shinned Hawk.  Our total count of Broad-wings was 456, and our total raptor count was 469.  Thanks to Chuck, Todd, Chet, and Sue for their help today! While tomorrows weather looks grim from the morning to early afternoon, the weather is likely to break between 3:00 and 4:00, which will likely result in another good push of Broad-wings.

Jo Hays Vista Hawk Watching, September 13, 2011

Yesterday, I spent most of the day hawk watching at Jo Hays Vista hawk watch. While I didn’t get nearly as many raptors as Hawk Mountain (more than 1600!), I more than doubled Jo Hays season count.  This was mainly due to small kettles of Broad-winged Hawks that consistently came through between 1:00 and 2:00.  Kettles ranged in size from around 10 to 20 Broad-wings each.  After gliding in over the “Happy Valley” of State College, kettles usually formed right over the radio towers. Here, they would rise high into the sky and glide off to the east above the ridge.  A few Sharp-shinned Hawks came into view near the kettles, and two Cooper’s Hawks were also mixed in throughout the day. Occasionally, single Broad-winged Hawks would fly through, after a number of kettles had formed and left, as if they had missed the memo that it was peak Broad-winged migration week and they were hurrying to catch up.  I also counted 8 Bald Eagles today, including 2 juveniles, a subadult, and 5 adults. One adult flew right through the “vista” overlook and over the road in full powered flight. Unfortunately there were no visitors to see it. If you really want to see a Bald Eagle here, you’ve got to put in the time. Only 2 of my eight were visible with the naked eye today.  I’ll be up at Jo Hays for the remainder of the week if anyone would like to join me and help me count Broad-wings!

Broad-winged Hawk - adult

Broad-winged Hawk - adult

Bald Eagle - adult

Bald Eagle - adult

Bald Eagle - adult

Turkey Vulture - adult

Monarchs migrate too!

This post is a part of WORLD BIRD WEDNESDAY!

Jo Hayes Vista September 2, 2011

After warbler watching yesterday, Alex and I headed over to Jo Hays Vista hawk watch. I’ve been seriously neglecting hawk watching this fall, so it felt really nice to get out…even though it just made me a little bitter that I am still not going to be hawk watching full time this fall.  Unfortunately, the two days I was out hawk watching this week were cursed with a south wind, including today.  A few ravens and local Turkey Vultures sailed by, but otherwise it was very quiet. Eventually a raven started calling, as I saw a large dark bird fly low through the treeline on the south east side of the ridge. It finally popped out and we got a quick glimpse of an adult Bald Eagle heading away from us.  Because of the south winds, birds were hugging south side of the ridge, so we repositioned at the powerline cut where the spring count is done (the “Tussey Mountain” count).  The winds were pretty strong here and it actually looked promising for migrants even though the skies were completely overcast and the air was really thick.  Eventually, a Turkey Vulture shot through and he was really flapping unusually hard. This usually only means one thing; an Adult Bald Eagle is about to ruin his day. Or, at least that is what he thinks, as he tries to get out of the way.  Within a few seconds our second adult Bald Eagle of the day came gliding through, and joined the now panicking Turkey Vulture on a thermal. Besides the two adult Bald Eagles, we saw two local Red-tailed Hawks, one a juvenile and one an adult.

Crested Caracaras and Prescribed Burns

Back in February, while I was working on the Crested Caracara project, a prescribed burn on Buck Island Ranch (of the MacArthur Agro-ecology Research Center) left the charred remains of a few armadillos, attracting at least 50 Turkey Vultures, 20 Black Vultures, 16 Crested Caracara of varying ages, and an adult Bald Eagle.  The flames were barely out when this group of opportunistic scavengers took advantage of the situation. Historically, natural fires caused by lightning were a frequent event from every 1 to 4 years in south-central Florida, maintaining the saw palmetto and wiregrass habitat structure that is important to a number of Florida species, like the Florida Grasshopper and Bachman's Sparrow.  However, because of fire supression and poor land management practices, many areas of Florida are overgrown, and the dry prairie is a thing of the past (except at Kissimmee Prairie Preserve State Park, the biggest protected area of dry prairie left in the world).  Prescribed burns are an essential part of smart land management, especially in landscapes that have been fragmented and negatively altered by humans.  Luckily for Crested Caracaras, most of the burns on the ranch (and on other surrounding ranches) were in February during their peak nesting season.

In this photo, there are two juvenile caracaras on the edge, 2 adults in the middle,

4 Black Vultures, and 7 Turkey Vultures.

This adult pair of Crested Caracara dominated the main kill site of an armdillo.  While this looks painful for the Turkey Vulture, I am sure this isn't the first time it has been bit in the face by a Crested Caracara. From what I observed in Florida, it was harder for single adults or single immature caracaras to dominate kill sites alone (although it sometimes happened).  Pairs were understandably much more successful at it. 
 

This adult Crested Caracara is in the process of kicking and holding down a Black Vulture that wasn't getting the picture.  Pretty harsh treatment, but all of these species are very social and have a well-established pecking order (all three species roost together) which is obvious at kill sites. The Black Vulture lost and joined the Turkey Vultures at the sidelines.

Eventually, an adult Bald Eagle flew in, and cleared the carrion site. Turkey Vultures scattered and the Crested Caracara pair backed off as well. 

The adult pair of Crested Caracaras were the only birds brave enough to return to the kill site after the Bald Eagle landed.  Trust me...they are adults, but their bright yellow legs and white necks are covered in soot and ash from scavenging through the burned wetland.

 There wasn't much left by the time it got there, so the Bald Eagle didn't stay long.  Afterwards, the pair had their fill and a sub-adult Crested Caracara dominated the kill site (probably because most of it was gone, and there wasn't much to defend) But he did have his moments of glory, rattle-calling to the few remaining Turkey Vultures who weren't succesful with the adult pair around.

Most of the other Crested Caracaras (mainly juveniles, sub-adults, and single adults) on site weren't up for challenging the adult pair, and roamed the edges of this wetland that was filled with the charred remains of snakes and frogs.

Crested Caracara - juvenile (note streaking on breast, brown plumage,

buffy colored neck, pale legs and face)

Crested Caracara -juveniles foraging through recent burn

Crested Caracara - sub-adults (note overall brown plumage, horizontal dark barring on neck)

3 Crested Caracaras fighting over a snake (2 subadults in background, adult in foreground)

Crested Caracara Nest Defense, South-central Florida

While working in Florida over the winter, I spent a lot of time doing behavioral observations on adult breeding pairs of Crested Caracara.  Like most raptors, these birds are pretty territorial, and go out of their way to keep their core nest areas free of intruders.  Most often, the enemy was a passing Bald Eagle. Usually, the caracara spotted the large intruder before I did, and flew off in a fast bee-line at the  curious eagle.  Other times, the intruder was an Osprey or a Red-shouldered Hawk on a favorite perch of the adults, or a Turkey Vulture innocently passing too close. 

While watching this pair of Crested Caracara at a nest on a cattle ranch, this sub adult Bald Eagle flew in on a kettle of Turkey Vultures.  It was quickly singled out by the caracara pair and attacked, then escorted away from the nest tree.  Bald Eagles are a frequent sight in Florida, and I often saw them on carrion with vultures and Crested Caracara.  Usually, the presence of a Bald Eagle put everyone on edge, as the eagle dominated the kill site and got its choice of food.  On other occasions, Bald Eagles stayed back in the distance, and waited for the opportune moment to steal a morsel of food that caracaras were taking off to a nearby nest.  The discovery of at least one of our nests was delayed because of an adult Bald Eagle harassing an adult Caracara that was trying to take food to its mate that had been on an unseen nest.

adult Crested Caracara catching up with Bald Eagle

Pair of adult Crested Caracara tag-teaming sub-adult Bald Eagle

sub-adult I Bald Eagle

Crested Caracara - adult (notice wing molt, 5 versus 6 white primaries visible)

FL to PA Day 3: Crystal River, FL (Ft. Island Gulf Beach, Crystal River birding) March 7

We started out our first full day together in Crystal River with a quick airboat ride out in the bay with Eva. Alex spotted a thermal of birds that included a swallow-tailed kite, bald eagle, wood storks, and turkey vultures. Out in the bay we added saltmarsh sparrow and greater yellowlegs to the trip list.

It seems like almost every few miles on a Florida highway, you can see this scene; black vultures fighting with eachother over a roadkill. Near the airport in Crystal River, we found these vultures fighting over a dead raccoon. They were so preoccupied with fighting, a single black vulture ate a good portion of the carcass before they even realized it. They weren't messing around, and were throwing kicks at eachothers throats, eyes, and mouths.

black vulture scuffle

Next we took Alex to Ft. Island Gulf Beach. All of the typical birds were there, in addition to a few royal terns that I saw there on the 4th that were banded. This was Alex's first time here, so we spent a long time here.

royal terns

Alex photographing skimmers

black skimmer resting

royal tern bathing

ruddy turnstone flyinh

juvenile white ibis eating crab

juvenile white ibis eating crayfish (at nearby birding trail)

We ended the day with 103 birds.