April 14 Daily Flight Summary

this WBNU kept me company counting from the bluff daily

Official Counter         

Adam Richardson

Observers       

None

Weather         

Overcast skies of stratus, cumulus a little cirrus and eventually nimbo-stratus by 11:50.  From 11:50-13:30 there was a significant amount of hail and snow falling, but by 14:30 it tried to clear up again.  Thermal lift was poor to fair most of the day with the steady winds, precipitation and cloud cover keeping things cool.  Winds were primarily out of the SW 3-14kph occasionally gusting to 24.2kph blowing my logbook off the bluff.  By 14:30 a high of 10C with a steady barometer for the entire count.  Visibility came and went with the weather and precipitation moving through.

Raptor Notes 

Another squad of TUVU (6) moved through before the approaching hail arrived.  Same flight pattern as the two groups yesterday.  One lone SSHA moved through between 16:00-17:00 to finish out the days slow flight.

At 11:55 I observed one of my most exciting raptor observations to date.  Two adult PEFA were hunting ROPI cooperatively over the Johnston Pasture.  When I first noticed the chase was on, one PEFA had flushed a ROPI away from the rest of the flock.  At first, I thought the ROPI might get away as the PEFA didn’t seem to be gaining on the ROPI.  It ends up this was deliberate as what the falcon was actually doing was forcing the pigeon slowly higher into hostile airspace where most likely its mate was waiting to stoop.  I missed the actual take as it happened fast and I was adjusting my field of view from behind my spotting scope which was in the way.  When I got back on the falcon after hearing much chatter, I noticed there were now two falcons.  One had secured the ROPI and it seemed to be taking several triumphant laps before eventually flying directly into the Smith River Canyon.  I didn’t mark either of these two as migrants as it seemed highly likely these two are a pair of resident birds.  As always, I was routing for the prey as much as the predator and the entire event had me on the edge of my seat.  More often than not in my experience the prey gets away, but I would imagine the falcons have a higher success rate than my resident raptors back in Reno.  This was a special observation to round out the season which is rapidly coming to a close tomorrow.

From my Birds of North America online account:

Cooperative Hunting begins about the time pair begins perching together (Cade 1960) but year-round in resident California pairs (B. Walton pers. comm.). Behavior progresses from simply hunting in proximity over same range to making passes at same prey. Cooperation typically involves one bird, usually male, making a pass at a flock while the other circles above to stoop on stragglers.

Non-raptor Notes

Towards the end of the count approximately 45 RBGU migrated through, almost on the exact same line as the TUVU.  It vaguely reminded me of watching the tern come into Lake Michigan at Mackinaw Straits last spring.

Visitors           

None, but the Smith River is open to floating tomorrow so the campground is filling up with boaters.

Next Day Forecast

N/A

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