This week’s guest post by community science volunteer, Marilyn Sherling, includes stunning photos taken this winter during raptor surveys. Marilyn and her daughter, Amanda, are monthly volunteers and photographers for the East Cascades Audubon Society’s Winter Raptors Survey Project. This winter, over 300 volunteers across five states participated, surveying 451 routes. Surveys are conducted from inside a vehicle traveling an assigned route on public roads. A total of 8 Wenatchee Naturalists volunteer for this project including Marilyn & Amanda Sherling, Richard Scanton, Jane & John Zanol, Lloyd Thompson, Susan Ballinger, and Katja Rowell. Additional volunteers are needed for newly added routes for the 2021-22 season.

On the crossbar!”

 “Third pole ahead!”

As we drive this snow covered road, we realize we’re a little too far away and with its back is to us, we can’t quite tell what type of hawk this is. We know it’s from the genus Buteo, due to the robust body and short tail, but all we see is a brown back.  As we approach, it lifts off and we both exclaim, “Roughy!“ because we have spotted that distinctive, dark carpel patch that is a signature of the Rough-legged Hawk.

We love the Waterville Plateau in the winter!  There are special visitors from the north that come down to spend the winter on this plateau, plus the local, year-round residents we also see in other seasons.  My daughter, Amanda, and I run winter raptor surveys for the East Cascades Audubon Society (ECAS), based out of Bend, Oregon. In 2019, they expanded winter community science survey areas into Idaho and Eastern Washington. Gathering data about bird migration and bird populations gives scientists information they need to make decisions about managing the health of the ecosystems, and we are happy to be a part of that process.  Besides, we get to watch these special visitors that only appear in the winter!

Amanda and I run two survey routes each month, beginning in November and ending with March. The starting point of both survey routes are at least an one hour’s drive from home, depending on how much snow there is on the road. The Mansfield route is centered around the town of Mansfield and totals 110 survey miles. The Dry Falls Junction route radiates from that junction (highways 2 and 17) to the north, west and south for a total of 94 survey miles.

Sometimes getting a survey done and coordinated with our personal schedules is a bit of a challenge. It might be a beautiful, sparkling, sunshiny day in Wenatchee. Then we drive up Pine Canyon, get to Waterville, or maybe a little beyond, and the fog rolls in so thick you can’t see in front of your face. In times like that there’s nothing to do but turn around, go home and wait for another day.

We eagerly look for the Rough-legged Hawks when we survey up on the plateau. These hawks spend the spring and summer in the Arctic, where they breed and raise their young. But in the winter they migrate south and a number of them spend the winter on the Waterville Plateau.

Rough-legged and Red-tailed Hawks are almost identical in size, both members of the genus Buteo, and both are present on the plateau in the winter.  However, the Rough-legged are much more prevalent in that season. You can tell Rough-legged by the dark carpel patches on their light underwings, their rounded tails, the lighter head with a darker belly and the feathers that cover their legs all the way to the feet. Often, there is a Rough-legged Hawk that very frequently sits on a power pole beside a grain bin just west of Farmer. We always look for him when we drive-by.

The Red-tailed hawks are generally pale on the underbody with a darker “belly band“. 

The dark continuous mark on the underwing’s leading edge is a signature field mark for a Red-tailed Hawk. The tail Is usually cinnamon red with a dark terminal band. Red-tailed hawks live in on the plateau all year, although some do migrate to Canada to breed in the spring. 

Every time we drive through the town of Mansfield we look for the “resident Merlin.”  We have not spotted him yet. An expert birding friend told us a couple of years ago that almost every small town in Eastern Washington has a resident Merlin. Amanda and I had almost decided that Mansfield did not have one, until I looked on eBird and found that there has been one spotted there and entered multiple times,  Maybe we’ll find it yet!

As we drive along the grass fields SE of Simm’s Corner (Intersection of Highway 17 & 172), we see a hawk flitting along and hunting just above the grass. We look out the window, and Amanda says, “Northern Harrier!”

Sometimes we spot a “gray ghost,” the colloquial term for a male Northern Harrier. Gray above and almost white below, with black wing tips, he will rise in the air and hover as he focuses in on his prey. Then, he swoops down, grabs his meal and off he goes. What a pleasure to watch!

Simm’s Corner usually has an American Kestrel sitting on one of the out buildings.  In fact they are sprinkled all over the plateau, and pop up on wires when you least expect them. 

Once, a Prairie Falcon showed up on one survey day.  Not an usual occurrence.

Along the basalt cliffs of the coulees, where they build their nests, we will frequently see a Golden eagle, soaring on the thermals.  But, today, one is sitting on a rock pile in the middle of a grassy field. As we approach, he decides we are too close and lift off into the air.

Talk about unexpected occurrences! We are driving back from the north end of Jameson Lake, which is on our Mansfield route.  We had eaten our lunch at the lake and were heading back to continue our route. On a crossbar on a power pole up ahead there is a body.

I say, “Crossbar, three poles ahead!” 

Fortunately, Amanda has her telephoto lens in her lap. We slow down and say to each other, “What is that?” I come to a stop (that’s one thing you can do on the plateau. You can stop in the middle of the road. Anywhere. There’s no one there.)

Amanda rolls her window down, I angle the car so she can get a good shot and she starts shooting. The bird sits for a moment and then lifts off and flies away. Amanda has her camera on rapid fire. When she’s done, we look at each other and say, “Gyrfalcon!  We got a Gyrfalcon!” What a get!

The Gyrfalcon is the largest true falcon in the world. They nest on the remote cliffs in the far reaches of Canada and Alaska. They are scarce winter visitors to the northern part our state. In other surveys and trips to the plateau this winter, we have looked for the Gyr, but never found him. That was a special treat!

Then, there are those special visitors – Snowy Owls- who occasionally migrate south in the winter. Maybe. They don’t come every year, and they don’t go to the same place every time. About three years ago we saw a couple in Davenport. But this year and last year they have decided to fly in to Atkins Lake, even though this year there is no lake.

Snowy Owl preferred habitat includes lake shores and marshes. They will also perch on high points or rock piles, of which there are many near Atkins Lake.

If you stick around until sunset you can see them lift off as they start to hunt. Unfortunately, it is such a low light, it’s impossible to get a good photo.

As the light fades, and the wind picks up, we start to freeze and say it’s time to head home. We have completed our bird count for this survey and seen some spectacular things!

There were a few differences in our 2020-21 bird count compared to 2019-20. Approximately half of each of our survey route areas was affected by the devastating fires of September, 2020. What is interesting is that in some of those burned areas the bird numbers were greatly decreased.   But in other parts, there didn’t seem to be any difference. I don’t know what the answer is to that. But our data sheets where we entered our numbers are color-coded to show which areas were burned and which were not. Perhaps the data can be useful to some of the scientists who look it over.

And so ends another year of winter raptor surveys on the Waterville Plateau. We will look forward to the next one with eager anticipation!

Marilyn Sherling is retired and living in the Monitor area. She is a member of the Chelan-Douglas Land Trust, Wenatchee River Institute, and NCW Audubon. She has completed the Wenatchee Naturalist class, and volunteered many hours in entering data into eBird from Leavenworth Spring BirdFest field trips, including historical data which brought their records up to date, and many years of historical data from the Upper Basin Birders. Beside the Winter Raptor Survey project, she has participated in the Christmas Bird Count, and the NCWAS Sagebrush Songbird Survey project.

Amanda Sherling is a graduate of the Natural Resources program at Wenatchee Valley College and is a member of the Chelan-Douglas Land Trust, Wenatchee River Institute, and NCW Audubon. She developed a birding trail on Wenatchee River Institute property  in conjunction with their management and had it accepted as an eBird hotspot trail system. In addition to the Winter Raptor Survey project, she also participates in the Christmas Bird Count, and was active in the NCWAS Sagebrush Songbird Survey project.