Re: [SBB] Clifftop Bluff (aka "hawk buffet")

["Garrett Lau" <[[email protected]]>]

Thanks for the report. I'm glad the raptors are still there despite
yesterday's rain. In my report from Saturday (Oct 6), I failed to give
counts or even mention some of the other raptors that were there that
day. They were similar to your numbers, except that there were 2
American Kestrels by the parking lot (in both the morning and the
afternoon). Additionally, there were Red-shouldered Hawks (4 or 5 in
the morning, 2 in the afternoon), and one Cooper's Hawk.

I've updated my "recent birds" gallery with a few photos from Saturday:
http://www.pbase.com/garrettlau/recentbirds

I've split off the Red-tailed Hawk photos into a separate gallery.
Most of those photos are of the adult with the band. Thanks to the
GGRO folks for looking up the band number.

Garrett Lau

On 10/11/07, Chuq Von Rospach <[[email protected]]> wrote:
>
> went and spent some time at Clifftop bluff in Half Moon bay again
> today. All I can say is, well, wow. Since we already have a hawk
> hill, I'm hereby declaring this place "hawk buffet", at least for now...
>
> Nice and sunny today (unlike Fitzgerald, which was socked in when I
> visited), with mild winds. When I arrived, I counted three Northern
> harriers and two White-Tailed kites actively hunting.
>
> Big day for white-tailed kites. Over the couple of hours I was there,
> at one point I had five flying and hunting and three more on the
> ground at one time, and my best estimate is a total of 11 or 12
> individuals. It was busy enough that at one point, when I put my lens
> on a kite sitting in a bush, I saw a second one in a bush further
> down the field, and behind THAT a northern harrier hunting. It was
> just amazing, everywhere you looked, sharp claws, hooked beaks and
> shiny eyes...
>
> The kites settled down about 11, to be replaced by red-tails. When I
> left roughly noonish, there was still a harrier and four red-tails
> there (two soaring and hunting, two perched and watching).
>
> Birds seen:
>
> White-tailed kites: 11-12
> Northern Harriers: 4-6
> Red-tailed hawks: 4-7
> American Kestrel: 1 (near the entrance, alternatively sitting on a
> dead tree or on the wires near the houses)
>
> Also seen:
>
> Western Meadowlark -- flew in over the parking lot, sat on the fence
> for about 30 seconds, then flew all the way back out to the south again.
>
> Says Phoebe -- middle of the main field in one of the bushes.  I may
> have photos.
>
> 2 ravens, which came in and sat in a tree near a large red-tailed,
> which studiously ignored them. They were clearly considering mayhem,
> decided they had other things to do, and flew off again, making lots
> of editorial commentary.
>
> Also heard were a couple of song sparrows and the (blah)-crowned, a
> few. For some reason, the hawk population seems to be discouraging
> other birds, other than the blackbirds and starlings.
>
>
>
> --
> Chuq Von Rospach
> [[email protected]]
> http://chuqui.typepad.com
>
>
>
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