Another male Goshawk

7 May 2008 2:15 Pioneer Trails RV Park
1 Goshawk; probably male; gliding; EOB= 300 feet; OT-10 seconds. ALSO: I had the idea the bird was traveling behind my position - so I waited in a much more open position. At 3:45 PM. a male Goshawk rapidly approached overhead. The bird had a square-tip tail. This bird was very energetic, moving rapidly in tight circles, flapping, gliding, and drifting. OT=1minute. EOB= 300-400 feet. This bird was short-winged, and did not have a missing primary - therefore, there are 2 male Goshawks hunting in my area! AND this is mainly for my detractors: come June and July my sightings of NG will taper off - sharply. Can you figure out why?

Anacortes Goshawk

5 May 2008 1:15 PM. Fernhill Cemetery
1 male Goshawk; with square-tip tail and missing left inner primary feather. The bird was climbing to 300 feet; flapping, gliding, soaring, and drifting. OT= 4 minutes; light wind and overcast.

male Goshawk

4 May 2008 10:30 AM. Pioneer Trails RV Park
1 male Goshawk; flapping and gliding: elevation of bird about 200 feet. OT= 45 seconds; overcast,dark - 0 wind speed.

Eurasian Skylark

2 May 2008 3 PM. Anacortes Water Treatment Plant - which is near the marina (Cap Santee)
1 Eurasian Skylark?; on the ground and jumping onto a berry patch - and flying away. This bird, if a Eurasian Skylark, is a life bird. The very definition of life bird states to me that the observer's claim is suspect, even my claims. Of course, certain bird species are more easily identified than others.

Goshawk Anacortes

28 April 2008 1:45 PM. Pioneer Trails RV Park
1 Goshawk; the bird was flapping (as a Goshawk flaps) and gliding. The bird had a square-tip tail. The bird was probably male, because of its size and the previous male sighting (same location) had a square-tip tail. Elevation of bird about 200 feet. Observation time 15 seconds. Overcast; very dark; threatening to rain. I know where that bird was going. I know what that bird was doing. The answer is within the weather conditions. Now it is raining. I will post on my blog - abrupt weather changes - using abrupt weather changes to find where Northern Goshawks are nesting and/or roosting. This information is also a way to eliminate areas that you think might contain Northern Goshawks. Please note: I have never found a Goshawk Nest; I have never seen a Goshawk nest.

more weather changes

San Diego; I wanted to test my insights again; how quickly could I find (observe) a Northern Goshawk? I knew (had observed) Goshawks in San Diego coming off of and soaring over the Clairemont Hills. Below these hills is Interstate 5. My observation post was mainly at De Anza RV Park on Mission Bay. Since then the name has changed. It had been cold and raining for many hours. The weatherman said the storm would break in the afternoon. It certainly looked as though the storm would clear around noon. Shortly thereafter the storm rapidly broke. And I grabbed my binos and walked to an area about 1 mile away, closer to the base of the Clairemont Hills. It was a noisy, busy intersection where 5 major roads intersected. No matter - within 10 minutes of my posting, a female Goshawk came off the hill and starting drifting toward me!


Williamsport, Pa.; I was standing on the deck of my apartment, high on a steep hillside, looking toward the Bald Eagle Mountains. Behind the mountains, coming my way, was an electrical storm. Heading toward me were 2 large raptors flying wing tip to wing tip. These birds were moving rapidly; there was no gliding involved. As the birds came near and off to my side, I realised they were female Goshawks. Off to my left was a continuation of the steep hillside (Grampian Hills). At a later date - after many months of observing male and female Goshawks at my residence in the suburbs of Williamsport, I found while walking in the near-by recreational park, fledgling Goshawks creeping along the tree branches. Those 2 female Goshawks were heading home - trying to beat the electrical storm home!

Williamsport, Pa.; It was a cold, damp day, while I was walking the Susquehanna River bike path. It started to snow. Then came a mature male Goshawk; elevation of bird about 100 feet. The bird was rapidly pumping - no gliding for this bird. The bird was trying to beat the storm home. The Grampian Hills were 1 mile away. If the bird was heading the other way, it would be going into the Bald Eagle mountains.

abrupt weather changes

If a Northern Goshawk (NG) passes your zenith nor even passes by high and wide, what 2 things is that bird telling you?? The best time to look for(NG) is between 10 am. and 2 pm. This is also true for many other species of raptors. In summer, particularly August and September, the observer can stretch the hours from 10 am. - 4 pm. In winter, in the northeast, the window of opportunity might narrow to 11 am.- 1 pm. The cold temperatures have little to do with raptor flights. What inhibits their flight is wind and lack of sun light (thermals).
ANSWER: The bird is telling you the direction it is going and the direction it has come from! DUH! No really - this is such an obvious understanding - that it is overlooked. Basic to this study is - what is the bird doing and where is it heading. So, what if a NG is heading westward?
Well, the best time to observe NG for lengthy periods of time is in the mid-afternoon. These hawks love the wind, sun, clouds, and thermals. As an observer, we and the hawks want pleasant weather conditions. We might call it "free flight". So, during pleasant weather conditions the direction of the NG has no meaning, except during early morning or evening, or abrupt weather changes. Most times - the hawk is perusing the sky and landscape, leisurely. NG go to work in the morning. They will leave their winter-roosting areas of Tucson, Yuma, and Apache Junction at sun up, and will fly to their first hunting area. When NG return to their winter-roosting areas cannot be determined. It is best to say - 2 hours before sun down, or 1 hour before sun down, or at sun down - or any increment between 2 hours before sun down. So, depending on the time of day or weather conditions, a NG is telling us the general area or direction of its nesting and/or roosting site.
Now to weather changes: abrupt weather changes occur when the sky is threatening, and then there is a tornado; anytime the weather changes from good to bad, we as humans can understand; so can birds and many other animals and insects. Strong winds or rain will alert the raptors to go
toward their roosting areas; or be driven into the trees. But, what of the flip side of weather changes? The weather can rapidly go from bad to good. Such as when I am in a hurricane - if the eye passes over, there is calm. When the entire hurricane (or a front) passes through, there is usually pleasant weather.
So, when a storm comes, it will trap the raptors. It will imprison them. When the storm breaks, the sky will clear, the sun will appear. The earth and the air will warm, and the storm's departure will release the raptors. The longer the storm the more the NG will want to break away and exercise its wings and express itself. Reminder: Goshawks love the wind, sun, clouds, and thermals. It seems to me that the weather will change much more rapidly from bad to good - than from good to bad. It takes time for the bad forces to materialise.
I will give 3 of my personal experiences relating to NG and abrupt weather changes; probably within a week. Please note: I have never found a Goshawk nest - I have never seen a NG nest. I have never found the areas where NG roost (not nest) in Tucson, Yuma, and Apache Junction.

Female Goshawk- Anacortes

26 April 2008 4:30 pm. Gibralter Road Quarry
1 female Goshawk; camera was ready, but was not raised. The bird was too far to the side .EOB- about 200 feet. The bird was flapping (as a Goshawk flaps), gliding, soaring and drifting. The bird went to 600-800 feet elevation. OT- 10 minutes!

Goshawk- Anacortes

19 April 2008 1 pm. Gibralter Road Quarry
1 male Goshawk; the bird was gliding and flapping (as a Goshawk flaps). EOB 300 feet. OT= 1 minute. ALSO; 1 mature male Goshawk. The bird had a square-tip tail. The bird was flapping (as a Goshawk flaps) and gliding, soaring and drifting. EOB- 150 feet, then rising to 600-800 feet. OT- 5 minutes. Location- Pioneer Trails RV Park.

Heading toward Anacortes

14 April 2008 Parker, Arizona - Lazy D RV Park
1 Eurasian Collared Dove - Also, Needles, Ca.; intersection of Rt. 95 and Rt. 40 - 1 Eurasian Collared Dove. 1 male Goshawk; Interstate 5 and exit 27 - near Medford, Oregon; the bird was circling and flapping (as a Goshawk flaps). Elevation of bird 150 feet. Observation time 10 seconds.

Clark's Cooper's Hawk

This photo was taken in Anacortes- just outside city limits; 10-5-04.

I sent 1 photo, a print, to William S. Clark, with a notice that all field guides need to be modified. Mr. Clark responded that he had to side with the birders' of Texas - that I was probably misIDing Cooper's and Sharp-shinned Hawks.

Mr. Clark stated to me by email, that the print was of a nice Cooper's Hawk; the wings were to short; the wing base was not wide enough; the wings were too straight across to be a Goshawk.

This bird and its photo is certainly a Goshawk. This photo shows an accipiter with short wings or medium length wings. The bird is actually a "long winged ", mature female Goshawk. The resultant forces placed upon the wing make the wings seem shorter than what they actually are. This is a chunky bird. The chest is robust; the tail is bulky; the wings are bulky. The sun light is reflecting off the chest (pearly gray).

Please notice: Pete Dunne's "Hawks in Flight", paperback, page 199; Harry Darrow's photo. I have seen photos similar to this one; all claiming Northern Goshawk. Also, on page 54 and 68; David Sibley's art work of a Northern Goshawk with the leading edge of the wings being straight across.

My suggestion: words have meaning. Great emphasis should be placed upon reading the words in "Hawks in Flight". Enjoy!

Goshawk - Bay View, Wa.

1 mature female Goshawk; Braezeale Interpretive Center. 10 days before this sighting, same location, was a mature Goshawk, in flight. I called that bird a male. 9-25-03

Female Goshawks Doubles

2 immature female Goshawks flying wing tip to wing tip. The birds went behind the tall evergreen trees. Then the birds circled out; 1 photo was taken. The birds again disappeared behind the trees. The birds circled out - another photo was taken. The result: 2 photos of 1 bird; or 1 photo of each bird. Location; N. Whidbey Island (2003).

Lay of the land

From Mt.Erie drop down to Scimitar Ridge; then drop toward Rt. 20 and Gibralter Rd.; at this same elevation is Fern Hill Cemetery, Gibralter Road Quarry, and Pioneer Trails RV Park. Then dropping to Similk Bay and Similk Bay Golf Course: all of this area is a contiguous hunting area for Northern Goshawks. I will post this area as (Rt. 20, Gibralter Rd.).

Modifying my reports

In the past, the only reporting related to Goshawk tail-tips, was when the tail-tip was square. Now I will document all tail tips when visible.

Introduction

Dear birders and hawk watchers - and there is a world of difference. I am not really interested in your comments relating to this blog site. I might not even look at your replies. I suggest you send your comments to a list serve such as http://www.birdingonthe.net/. Instructions- click Regional/Specialty; scroll to Western US; then click Tweeters (WA). Paradoxically, I will accept your physical presence with me in the field, and treat you cordially. That might be another way of saying, " money talks- bullshit walks". Not that I accept any monies for my teachings of strategies and insights. Also, you must subscribe to a list serve before you can publish any comments. So, any comments toward me - why not let many others see your expressions.