Jim Harrison

Most people have some kind of activities that they look forward to each winter. My wife, Bea, and I have enjoyed doing winter raptor surveys for several years. The Winter Raptor Survey Project, sponsored by the East Cascades Audubon Society based in Bend, Oregon has 450 volunteers doing driving surveys, counting hawks, eagles, falcons, and owls. This project has been going on for over 18 years. The two surveys Bea and I currently do are west of Spokane in the Davenport, Reardan area. Each survey is about 75 miles long. Doing these surveys is a great excuse to make long drives in the country and chase away the winter blues. The rolling hills of farmland and grasslands are beautiful in the winter. Besides the various bird species we encounter, we often see deer, coyotes and last year we were astonished to encounter a herd of 80 elk!

We have magnetic “Bird Survey” signs on our vehicle, so locals know we are not casing their property to rob them as we park on the side of the road with binoculars or a camera hanging out the window. Sometimes a friendly local will stop and tell us where we can find birds. The project has established survey routes throughout all of Oregon, Idaho, Washington, and parts of northern California, northern Utah, and southwest Montana. Several Spokane Audubon members have routes of their own.

Everyone tries to cover their route once a month in the winter. If you are interested in learning more about this project or possibly volunteering yourself, go to the East Cascades Audubon website at:

https://www.ecaudubon.org/winter-raptor-survey/

Yesterday we did one of our surveys and we really enjoyed it. We saw about 30 hawks, a few American Kestrels, several bald eagles and two Prairie Falcons. We stopped and watched a herd of mule deer in a field and a huge flock of turkeys feeding. Tomorrow, we plan to do our second survey for the month. It is always an adventure because we never know what we will see.