[birding] Finley raptor life

[howard bruner]

11/27


 

The need to get back down to Finley was strong this perfect
winter morning.  I grabbed my buddy Greg
on the way through town and he and I set off on a birding journey that neither
of us realized would be so stupendous.

 

We entered the refuge from Bellfountain rd after stopping to
check out the Philomath sewage ponds. A crisp wind textured the water and thebirds were grouped up hugging the edges. 
None of the recent delicacies were present except a horned grebe.  An adult bald eagle sat atop the south most
tree on the west shore of the first pond – little did we know it was to be the
first raptor in a veritable parade of predators.  On our way out a merlin shot across from the
SW without any overt recognition from the numerous waterfowl it flew over.

 

Bruce rd was uneventful until we stopped to find the
gold-crowns that invariably hang out on the back side of the road hedge of the
field to the east of the last house before the refuge.  It was a good stop – we didn’t find any g-c
sparrows until we had seen downy woodpecker, fox and song sparrow, red-tailed
hawk, yellow rump warb, towhee, scrub jay, robin, Bewick’s wren, and 2 tame
perky wrentits that came right up to us and popped up and ducked low for several
minutes.

 

Then we entered the entertainment capital of the raptor
follies.  As we scoured the scrape for
sparrows and waterfowl an adult male harrier tottered at the edge and with it
and the stiff wind there was precious little bird life visible.  The harrier got lucky and ended up at the edge
of the field giving us superb views as it torn up something warm and furry.  

 

We scanned the impressive gathering of cackling geese in the
meadowlark field to the south and were otherwise enjoying a day of perfect
viewing conditions and spectacular atmospherics when the geese erupted like an
overfilled rice cooker.  Instead of an ordered
flock body slowly lifting and heading in the same direction (such flock
movements always remind of an Escher view of the positive/negative spaces in a
unified matrix) the flock body broke in half and seemed to be crushed by a giant
foot from above.  It took just a flash to
pick out the peregrine hunting in the jumble and in the next second it was all
peregrine and the one poor goose that it had acquired as a target.  The goose did well in staying ahead when both
birds were on one trajectory but the goose tried to turn and rejoin the flock
and the falcon climbed slightly and cut the corner to intercept the goose -
which immediately took a hit, kept flying strong and at the next falcon dive
slammed into some sheet water with a gigantic splash.  The falcon landed nearby and serenely gazed
at the prey that was at least 3 times its weight.  The goose looked back and seemed to realize
it was not in danger once the aerobatic prowess of the falcon was
disabled.  The falcon lifted and flew across
the road to the harrier who was finishing up a sumptuous luncheon.  The harrier and falcon engaged and seemed
fairly well matched as they grappled and flapped with intense concentration – shooting
straight up and tumbling chaotically. 
Then the harrier disengaged and flew off with disgust (I 
assume).  But the falcon was destined to be alone for a
very short time.  A rough-legged hawk
must have watched the battle from the distant tree line and thought ‘hey free
lunch’.  It came in strong and the falcon
was barely able to avoid being caught on the ground.  The attack and fight looked very like the
previous event but the size difference was greater between the combatants.  Greg and I were transfixed as this unfolded
right there in the open field in the clear cold air on a brilliant day.  

 

The falcon and hawk skirmished for many minutes beginning
near the contested protein but ending up all over above the open sky.  The food seemed lost to all participants and
I wonder how much food is lost through these aggressive interactions.  Then the hawk and falcon suddenly broke off
and soared near each other slowly distancing apart.

 

To the south and east of the scrape near the overlook ~ 60
pipits were moving across the fields foraging. 
The only other notable observation is the dearth of gw teal in McFaddin
which is otherwise alive with mallard, pintail, coot, scaup, ring-necked,
widgeon, and 3 races of white-cheeked geese.

 

H

 		 	   		  
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