Hawks: Part III

The Ferruginous Hawk is a rare hawk found mainly in the Southwest, though some summer Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and Montana.

Rests on fence posts, telephone polls, and occasionally on the ground. It hunts from the air mostly for small animals such as rabbits, squirrels, rodents, snakes, and birds.

It is the largest of the hawks with a wingspan of 56 inches. 

Unlike many of the other hawks, it doesn't seem to mind humans getting a close look or taking a photo. This first photo, at Cibola National Wildlife Refuge, was taken at about 10 feet away:

Birds on a Wire: Ferruginous Hawk

Back to the series on Birds on a Wire, we come to the Ferruginous Hawk.

The beautiful Ferruginous Hawk unfortunately is "Threatened." Estimates suggest less than 4,000 pairs left in the US.

It is found on prairies, deserts, and open ranges, hunting in wide open spaces either from a lone tree,  soaring high in the sky, or even on the ground by prairie dog burrows.  

Their diet includes rabbits, squirrels, prairie dogs, with the occasional reptile or bird.

Here is a photo taken at Santa Cruz Flats in Arizona:

Juvenile Ferruginous Hawk

Birding Santa Cruz Flats in Arizona

First a note to welcome the 125th country that has visited this blog: Antigua & Barbuda. Thank you for your in interest our Wildlife. It clearly is something people around the world have in common.

Santa Cruz Flats is one of the great winter birding spots. There are riparian areas along the Santa Cruz River, scrub desert, and farmlands. All provide a wide variety of birding experiences. Here are a sample of birds photographed on December 9, 2015:

American Kestrel

American Pipit

Blue Gray Gnatcatcher

Burrowing Owl

Common Ground Dove

Oops, a Coyote

Crested Caracara

Ferruginous Hawk

Snowy Plover

Prairie Falcon

Roadrunner

Rock Wren

Santa Cruz Flats: Three Falcon Day

This is the time of year that birding Santa Cruz Flats can be fun. Among many other birds (which I'll post tomorrow) three falcons presented themselves nicely:

American Kestrel

Crested Caracara

Prairie Falcon

I'll throw in a nice Ferruginous Hawk as well:

Ferruginous Hawk

Santa Cruz Flats - The Alternate Universe

It's winter, so yesterday I was off to Santa Cruz Flats -- as Christine says, the alternate universe. Santa Cruz Flats is an area between Tucson and Phoenix, west of Picacho Peak. It is definitely as the name suggests, flat. Much of it is barren, not even cactus grows there. But much of it is cultivated, mostly cotton and turf farms. As such it is well irrigated and seeded which brings a multitude of birds, including waterbirds and raptors.

Lots of Red Tailed Hawks -- of all color varieties; many American Kestrel's; s a couple Prairie Falcons; a couple Harrier Hawks, and a Ferruginous Hawk. I did not see any Crested Caracaras or Black Vultures which I have seen on previous trips.

I did find a large flock of Mountain Plovers although too far or "flighty" to get good photos. Lots of Ravens too.

Here are a few photos from yesterdays trip:

Yellow Headed Blackbird

American Kestrel

Canvasback

Prairie Falcon

Ferruginous Hawk

Ferruginous Hawk

Horned Lark

Lots to see at Whitewater Draw

Yesterday I checked out Whitewater Draw in Southeast Arizona. Whitewater Draw is most famous for its wintering Sandhill Cranes. About 1,000 have already arrived. By January, there should be 30,000 to 40,000. But, as for yesterday, they were really too far away for a good photo. But, all was not lost. Lots of other photos:

White Faced Ibis

Cattle Egret and Long Billed Curlews

Great Egret

Belted Kingfisher

Least Sandpiper

Great Blue Heron

Eared Grebe

Clark's Grebe

Loggerhead Shrike

Ferruginous Hawk

Ferruginous Hawk

Continuing with the alphabetical series of my "5" Star Photos we come to the Ferruginous Hawk. The Ferruginous Hawk is a winter resident here in Southern Arizona. It is mostly found in the interior Southwestern States although a sometimes summer visitor to Wyoming and Montana. It is the largest of the Buteos with a wingspan of 56 inches and weight of 3.5 pounds. The farmlands around Sulphur Springs (Southeastern Arizona) provide a multitude of rodents -- a favorite prey -- which is where I took this photo.

Ferruginous Hawk

Cibola National Wildlife Refuge

Next on my trip this past week was Cibola National Wildlife Refuge. This is not an easy place to get to from Arizona. Cibola is adjacent to Imperial just to the north. If you are on the Colorado River you would boat from one right into the other. However, if you are driving, it is a 2 and a half hour drive from one to the other.

Nonetheless, I made that journey (as I have in the past). While Cibola's duck pond was dry and therefore no ducks, there were about 1000 Sandhill Cranes and 50 or so Great Egrets. Got a few okay photos of the Cranes (Whitewater Draw has more and usually closer -- same with Bosque del Apache in New Mexico). But the Egrets were nice and cooperative. I also came across a light phased juvenile Ferruginous Hawk. However, the find of the day were a couple of Burrowing Owls. 

Here are some photos from Cibola:

Burrowing Owl

Ferruginous Hawk

Great Egret

Sandhill Crane

National Wildlife Refuges

Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge, Washington, 1966

Ridgefield NWR has a total of 5,218 acres of marshes, grasslands and woodlands. There is a 4.2 mile auto tour route and 1.2 mile seasonal hiking trail that provide a glimpse of what the refuge provides.

Ridgefield was established in 1966, along with 3 other refuges in the Willamette Valley of Oregon, to secure vital winter habitat for Dusky Canada geese and other wintering waterfowl. With subsequent changes to nesting habitat and reduction in dusky populations following the violent earthquake of 1964 in Alaska, the need for secure wintering habitat became even more important.

Stately sandhill cranes, shorebirds, and a great variety of songbirds stop at the Refuge during spring and fall migrations. Some bird species such as mallards, great blue herons, and red-tailed hawks are year-round residents that nest on the refuge. Black-tailed deer are the largest mammal on the refuge. Coyote, raccoon, skunk, beaver, river otter and brush rabbits are occasionally seen. 

Doing these posts on the National Wildlife Refuges has brought to light some changes that I need to make in my process. I had many photos of Ridgefield and it's various waterbirds including Sandhill Cranes, ducks, and geese. However, as I have gone through my 25,000 photos (over the past 20 years) I have either deleted or not scanned many into my computer. For example,  I had many Sandhill Crane photos from Ridgefield, but had others from Bosque del Apache, NM or Whitewater Draw in Arizona, that were better photos, so I ended up deleted the Ridgefield ones. In doing so, I am not able to show the variety of birds that can be found in this wonderful refuge. With the storage capacity of computers now, keeping additional photos is not a problem. So, I am going to be much more careful in my "selection/deletion" process than I have been in the past. Here's what's left of my Ridgefield photos (all taken during the mid nineties):

Ferruginous Hawk

Great Blue Heron Drying his Wings

Great Blue Heron Walking

Great Blue Heron Eating

Great Egret

Lake Cochise - Whitewater Draw

I had an opportunity to check out Lake Cochise and Whitewater Draw yesterday (hence no post for yesterday). Very little to report at Lake Cochise, mostly Northern Shovelers and Coots; no egrets, avocets, black necked stilts, white face ibis, white pelicans, phalaropes, etc. Only thing interesting was a Black Crowned Night Heron asleep in a tree that was impossible to get a good photo of. So, I headed to Whitewater Draw through Sulphur Springs Valley. Along the way I got a great shot of a Ferruginous Hawk:

I was hoping to find Barn Owls roosting at Whitewater Draw -- maybe even a Long Eared Owl. No luck there either. There was a Great Horned Owl in the Roost area though:

No Sandhill Crane photos this time. Those that were at Whitewater Draw were much too far away to photograph (exactly the opposite of my last trip a month ago where they were the closest they had even been). But, I did get a good photo of a Says Phoebe and a Loggerhead Shrike:

All in all, the Ferruginous Hawk photo was worth the trip.