By Dan Casey
The 17th fall monitoring season at Jewel Basin Hawk Watch has turned out to be one of our best ever. The extended mild weather allowed us to conduct 47 surveys through October 14, with 3,800 raptors tallied, our second-highest season total (and we’re not done yet)! While the first significant cold front and snow is predicted to arrive as I write this, hopefully we will still be able to add to these totals during the latter part of October.
We have recorded above-average numbers of 11 of the 16 species seen this year. These included record numbers of Turkey Vultures and American Kestrels, good numbers of Broad-winged Hawks, and seven Swainson’s Hawks, tying our previous high season count. We have recorded over 2,000 Sharp-shinned Hawks for just the second time in 17 years, surpassing 22,000 counted over the life of this count! October brought the first “Harlan’s” Red-tailed Hawks, Rough-legged Hawks, and increased numbers of Golden Eagles from the far north.
Our totals through October 14: Turkey Vulture (15); Osprey (14); Bald Eagle (54); Northern Harrier (66); Sharp-shinned Hawk (2,120); Cooper’s Hawk (568); American Goshawk (32); Accipiter sp (66); Broad-winged Hawk (44); Swainson’s Hawk (7); Red-tailed Hawk (211); Buteo sp (12); Golden Eagle (309); American Kestrel (156); Merlin (44); Peregrine Falcon (19); Prairie Falcon (8); Eagle sp (5); Raptor sp (24). Total: 3,800.
A few other highlights seen by visitors to the hawk watch this season have included a mountain lion along the road up, Grizzly and Black Bears, multiple mountain goats, and other cool birds along the ridge (e.g. Black Swifts, Northern Pygmy-Owl, Gray-crowned Rosy-Finches, “Yellow-shafted” Flicker, and a single passing Snow Goose). We will be including a final update of this year’s effort in the next Pileated Post. But if you would like more information, contact Dan Casey at (406)270-5941. Or visit the Jewel Basin page on the Flathead Audubon website for more information and survey calendar: https://flatheadaudubon.org/protect/jewel-basin-hawk-watch/ .