Late Breaking News! GOLDEN EAGLE

Pat Little with AHY male Golden Eagle

I just got this in from the ridge and need to post it before the day is through. I called to verify that the photo wasn't photoshopped (yes Pat, you do like to play tricks!). This is just the 3rd Golden Eagle that we have ever banded at Entiat since 2001. (This guy weighed 40 times more than a Sharp-shinned hawk they caught just before him.)

I talked to Pat Little and got the story. He came by around 4 PM. He was molting so he was after hatch year. They may be able to determine a definite age by reviewing photos of the plumage. It was also noted that he was very docile. Helping Pat on the ridge today were Gavin Brady, Gail Roberts, and Jody Marquadt. They had 8 total for the day.

Way to go Team!

Raptors banded:

1 HY female SSHA
4 HY male SSHA
1 HY male COHA
1 HY U RTHA
1 AHY male GOEA

AHY male Golden Eagle leaving Entiat



Here is the Sharp-shinned hawk that weighed 1/40th of the GOEA



We are now at a total of 131. Last year at this date we had 138. Last year it slowed down a bit on the next few days, so with the good weather forecast, there is a good chance we will soon be ahead of last year again.

Goshawk! Monday, September 10, 2007

The first Northern Goshawk of the season was scooped up by Martin Muller and his team on Monday. If you are ever unsure about what species you have in hand, more often than not, you can tell it is a NOGO because of the piercing noise it makes as soon as you lay hands on it. We have a tradition at Entiat of calling Bud on the phone to let it scream at him.



Helping Martin on the ridge today were Simone, Meghan, and Blake. They ended up with a total of 10 which brings us to a season total of 123. This is slightly behind last year at this point.

Raptors banded:

2 HY male SSHA
3 HY female SSHA
1 HY male COHA
1 SY male COHA
1 ASY U COHA
1 HY RTHA
1 HY female NOGO


HY female Northern Goshawk

5 More - Sunday, September 2, 2007

This brings us to 56 total, season to date. Martin Muller, Michelle Johnson, and Becky Rosencranz were on the ridge today. They reported a Prairie falcon "fly-by" and a lot of ravens that hung out over the set playing in the breezes. They are fun to watch as they do their acrobatics but they don't do much for daily count.

Martin said that Michelle did her first solo net extraction of a Kestrel and she has the scars to prove it. With the 2 Kestrels today, we have now banded more in our first week than the season total of any other year. The most we have banded in the past in one season was 20 AMKE's.

Raptors banded:

1 AHY male SSHA
1 HY female COHA
1 HY U RTHA
1 HY female AMKE
1 HY male AMKE

Photo of the day:

HY female COHA

A key for the codes we use

Here is a key of the codes for raptors that we see at Entiat Ridge:

SSHA - Sharp-shinned Hawk
COHA - Cooper's Hawk
NOGO - Northern Goshawk
RTHA - Red-tailed Hawk
RLHA - Rough-legged Hawk
AMKE - American Kestrel
MERL - Merlin
PEFA - Peregrine Falcon
PRFA - Prairie Falcon
NOHA - Northern Harrier
GOEA - Golden Eagle
BAEA - Bald Eagle
TUVU - Turkey Vulture
OSPR - Osprey


Here is a key for the codes we use for the ages:

HY - hatch year
SY - second year
TY - third year
AHY - after hatch year
ASY - after second year
ATY - after third year
U - unidentified