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Raptors in Washington Co.

I spent Saturday afternoon on the top of the Beaver Dam mountains above Lytle Ranch in hopes of seeing some migrating Raptors. I had high hopes but not very high expectations having never been up there and not knowing if I would see much at all. I did some research on when might be a good time for Broad-winged Hawks to be going through and last weekend seemed to as good as any. I was up there from 1:30 to 5:30 and was amazed at the number of birds I saw.

I saw 14 different species including 2 Broad-winged Hawks.There were a lot of birds I couldn't ID mostly because the wind was really blowing and they went by so fast with there wings tucked in that I had trouble telling if they were Falcons or Accipiters sometimes. I did get some really nice views of some birds that made it worth the frustration of missing some of them. I could have used a couple more sets of eyes.

I wish I could have gone back up there Sunday to see if I just hit it on a good day or if it was a typical day this time of year. I'm going to try and go back up this weekend if I can. I will let you know. If anyone wants to go up there have a high clearance 4X4.

Here is a list of the birds,

TV 4
Osprey 2
Harrier 1
Sharp-shinned 7
Cooper's 9
Goshawk 1
Accipiter sp. 10
Broad-winged 2
Swainson's 2
Red-tailed 9
Ferruginous 1
Buteo sp. 16
Golden Eagle 1
Kestrel 13
Merlin 3
Peregrine 1
Falcon sp. 3

I probably saw another 15 to 20 birds that I couldn't even tell what species they were because of the wind or the distance or there was something closer to look at.

Larry Tripp


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