We spend quite a few early-morning
hours on the hawkwatch platform. Because we spend so much time up
there, we are able to see some interesting bird behavior. This time,
we got pictures of it too. A Great Horned Owl flew past the
platform, and it was carrying an unfortunate Eastern Gray Squirrel.
Anna was able to get her camera in time to capture the events that
followed.
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| A Great Horned Owl carrying a squirrel past the hawkwatch platform. Photo by Anna Stunkel. |
Suddenly, we saw a Cooper's Hawk swoop
in from behind the Great Horned Owl!
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| A Cooper's Hawk (left) chasing the Great Horned Owl. Photo by Anna Stunkel. |
The Cooper's Hawk was calling as it
chased the owl, and it dived at the owl several times.
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| The Cooper's Hawk diving on the Great Horned Owl. Photo by Anna Stunkel. |
The hawk continued to chase the owl
into the forest behind the hawkwatch platform, and we heard the hawk
calling for a few minutes after the birds had gone out of view. We
don't know if the owl stole the squirrel from the Cooper's Hawk, or
if the hawk was attempting to steal the squirrel from the owl. No
matter what was going on, it was interesting raptor behavior to
observe from the platform, and we are glad we have pictures of the
event to share on the blog.
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| The Cooper's Hawk (top) chasing the Great Horned Owl as it flew into the forest behind the hawkwatch platform. Photo by Anna Stunkel. |
We have had an unusually high number of
Ospreys flying over the hawkwatch platform for the month of November.
On November 5th, forty-one migrating Ospreys were counted
at the Kiptopeke Hawkwatch. That number exceeds the total number of
Ospreys counted in the month of November at Kiptopeke in some
previous years.
There have also been days with good numbers of other migrating species. There were nineteen Bald Eagles seen migrating
over the hawkwatch platform on November 5th. On November 9th, we had a large flight of
Northern Harriers. A total of forty-six Northern Harriers were
counted from the hawkwatch platform on that day.
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| An adult Bald Eagle (left) and an Osprey flying over the hawkwatch platform. Photo by Steve Thornhill. |
Some notable birds that were seen from
the platform recently are the first Golden Eagle of the 2017 season
on November 1st, a White-winged Dove being pursued by a Cooper's
Hawk on November 4th, thousands of migrating
American Robins on the morning of
November 7th, and the first Tundra Swan flocks of the 2017 season on
November 9th. As is often the case, these birds escaped
our cameras. (The White-winged Dove also escaped the Cooper's Hawk.) However, Yellow-rumped Warblers are currently very abundant at Kiptopeke, and we are able to get pictures of them when they visit us on the hawkwatch platform.
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| A Yellow-rumped Warbler perched on the hawkwatch platform. Photo by Katie Garst. |
A notable person that stopped by the
hawkwatch platform on November 7th was Scott McConnell.
Scott was the CVWO Official Hawk Counter at the Kiptopeke Hawkwatch
in 2006. We thank him for his visit to the hawkwatch platform.
-Katie
