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Klamath Basin Intern Field Trip

Trip Totals:

Buteos:
Red-tailed Hawk - 251
Rough-legged Hawk – 67        (2 male, 7 female, 5 juvenile, 53 undocumented)
Ferruginous Hawk – 3              (1 adult, 2 juvenile)

Falcons:
American Kestrel – 49
Merlin – 2
Prairie Falcon – 10

Eagles:

Golden Eagle – 5                         (3 adult, 2 subadult/juvenile)
Bald Eagle – 98                           (70 adult, 11 subadult, 6 juvenile, 11 undocumented)

Accipiter: 
Sharp-shinned Hawk – 1

Others:
Northern Harrier – 97                 (8 male, 3 female, 35 juvenile, 51 undocumented)
Turkey Vulture – 0

Owls:
Great Horned Owl – 2
Barn Owl – 1
Short-eared Owl – 5

Total Raptor Sightings:  591

Total Dark Morphs Seen (Red-tails & Rough-legged Hawks) - 25

TOP 5 Raptors of the Trip!

  1. Prairie Falcon – first PRFA seen on the trip.  It was perched on a power pole in Butte Valley.  It let us get very close and we got to see it fly right next to us.  Light steel blue colored
  1. Chocolate Juvenile Red-tailed Hawk -  this bird was located on what we named Dark Morph Lane near Tulelake.  It was first spotted flying and then perched on a rock not far from our vehicle.  This bird threw us for a loop with the debate of whether it was a RT or a dark morph Ferrug.  The bird was a solid dark brown with no light spots.  The tail was a beautiful white color with faint bars from the under side.  The bird was finally a confirmed Red-tail after remembering that a Ferruginous Hawk doesn’t have dark primary feather tips. 
  1. Subadult Golden Eagle - after seeing bald eagle heaven a large bird was spotted flying low to the ground straight for us.  The angle of the bird coming head on was difficult to identify until it beautifully angled up over us only 30 feet above our heads.  It was a gorgeous subadult golden eagle giving us every possible look we could have ever dreamed of.  Thank you Mr. Eagle!
  1. Adult Ferruginous Hawk -  the four of us woke up early for a bald eagle fly out which turned out to be only 16 eagles.  Then lured by the sounds of a mountain quail we hiked around a mountain side for about an hour and a half.  Sam walked off and all of a sudden an adult Ferruginous hawk flew right over Katy, Heather and Jeff’s heads.  We were all speechless not wanting to jinx the moment and morph the bird into something less spectacular.  The red v-shaped legs were tiger striped and unmistakable. 
  1. Barn Owl - While hiking around the petroglyphs near Captain Jack’s Stronghold we unwittingly scared up a white barn owl from its hiding place.  We were fortunate to see this bird twice as it flew around the petroglyphs in broad daylight.  It was a fantastic look and quite a surprise. 

Extra Credit - Dark Morph Male Rough-legged Hawk -  Of course, we had to include a roughie.  After all, that’s why we went to Klamath.   This bird was the second Rough-legged Hawk seen on our trip.  The bird was extremely dark with the typical male striped tail.  It matched the dark morph roughie picture in our hawk guide perfectly.  And it also stayed in our memories as one of the finest RLHAs in Klamath.


Birds seen en route and in the

Klamath Basin

  1. Great-Horned Owl
  2. American Crow
  3. Red-tailed Hawk
  4. Great Egret
  5. Yellow-billed Magpie
  6. White-tailed Kite
  7. American Kestrel
  8. American Robin
  9. Mourning Dove
  10. Common Raven
  11. European Starling
  12. Western Meadowlark
  13. Brewer’s Blackbird
  14. Rock Dove
  15. California Gull
  16. American Coot
  17. Red-winged Blackbird
  18. Northern Harrier
  19. Whitefaced Ibis
  20. Long-billed Curlew
  21. Turkey Vulture
  22. Sharp-shinned Hawk
  23. Red-shouldered Hawk
  24. Loggerhead Shrike
  25. House Finch
  26. Black Phoebe
  27. Western Scrub Jay
  28. Acorn Woodpecker
  29. Golden Eagle
  30. Rough-legged Hawk
  31. Dark-eyed Junco
  32. Black-billed Magpie
  33. Lewis Woodpecker
  34. Mountain Chickadee
  35. Steller’s Jay
  36. California Quail
  37. Townsend’s Solitaire
  38. Prairie Falcon
  39. Lesser Scaup
  40. Great-blue Heron
  41. Bufflehead
  42. Common Merganser
  43. Canvasback
  44. Common Goldeneye
  45. Ring-necked Pheasant
  46. Song Sparrow
  47. Marsh Wren
  48. American Wigeon
  49. Mallard
  50. Northern Shoveler
  51. Merlin
  52. Green-winged Teal
  53. Northern Pintail
  54. Tundra Swan
  55. Short-eared Owl
  56. Bushtit
  57. Gadwall
  58. Rock Wren
  59. House Sparrow
  60. Canyon Wren
  61. Barn Owl
  62. Bewick’s Wren
  63. Golden-crowned Kinglet
  64. Mountain Quail
  65. Northern Shrike
  66. Brown Creeper
  67. Yellow-rumped Warbler
  68. White-crowned Sparrow
  69. Belted Kingfisher
  70. Barrow’s Goldeneye
  71. Ruddy Duck
  72. American White Pelican
  73. Ross’s Goose
  74. Greater White-fronted Goose
  75. Eared Grebe
  76. California Towhee
  77. Say’s Phoebe

Sam Stuart & Jeff Birek

Contact the GGRO:

Mail:
Golden Gate Raptor Observatory
Building 201, Fort Mason
San Francisco, CA 94123

Phone:
(415) 331-0730

E-mail address:
ggro@parksconservancy.org

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