Rough-legged Hawk Movement Update 7.21.22
Another unfortunate update on birds from our winter season. Two more rough legs, Champ and Lemons, were found dead in Quebec within the last few weeks. Again, Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza, is the likely suspect. That leaves Farr Cross, the only male bird with a backpack unit. He was the only bird to be outfitted…
Rough-legged Hawk Movement Update 6.16.22
A Rough-legged Hawk in Vermont in June?! Apparently!
Rough-legged Hawk Movement Update 4.18.22
Spring may finally be upon us, despite forecasts calling for snow in the coming week, and our Rough-legged Hawks are back in Canada continuing to move north for breeding in the arctic.
Rough-legged Hawk Spring 2022 Movement Updates
Spring migration is just beginning across the state and birds are on the move!
Winter Raptor Research Updates From the Field – Season 2 Wrap Up
As fast as winter began, our winter raptor surveys have finished! We had a great few months looking for birds of prey in Addison County, with lots of snow cover and consistent cold temperatures.
Winter Raptor Research Updates From the Field – Season 2 Week 1
The week started off icy, with an Arctic north wind blowing drifts into the remaining snow cover. The frigid weather was fitting for our “target” species. These birds are in the same family as Red-tails, Red-shoulders and Broad-winged Hawks, however their breeding grounds are restricted to the arctic tundra throughout the world, and they are well-adapted for extreme cold. In North America, they breed in Northern Canada and Alaska, and migrate south into the “lower 48” states for the winter.
Finding Middlebury
Middlebury, one of the Red-tailed Hawks in our Winter Raptor Project, has reestablished connection since he last transmitted data in April!
Winter Raptor Research Updates From the Field – Season Wrap Up
With spring in full swing we have officially wrapped up our winter raptor field season. Both Middlebury and Goodrich have been reliably checking in and sending location data for us to analyze. So far each bird has revealed drastically different movement patterns.
Winter Raptor Research Updates From the Field – Week 3
The last few weeks have been excellent for winter bird watching. Since our transmitters are arriving later than expected, we’ve decided to change strategies and set up standardized survey routes. While we’re mostly focusing on raptors, we love all birds and can’t help but stop and watch some of the large flocks of winter birds we’ve been seeing too.
Winter Raptor Research Updates From the Field – Week 2
We’re still waiting for all our materials to come in, but that hasn’t stopped us from getting in the field. We went out recently for another round of trapping with our partner from Cornell, Bryce Robinson, to find another abieticola (a subspecies of red-tailed hawks).
Similar to our prior outing, we didn’t catch a bird until late in the day. Just as the sun set over the fields, our research coordinator Jim made one more attempt before we called it a day and this beautiful bird came to the trap.
