I am Suspicious

This post is about photographs and photographers. It does not pertain specifically to birding or hawking. But, in this case it does. I am referring to the accipiter photograph on Whatbird, Sept. 27 2020, under the title Cooper’s Hawk or Sharp shinned Hawk. This photo, taken in South Florida was an accipiter, but not a Cooper’s Hawk. I am quite sure the accipiter is female,  because of the long wings. On this post, I will not relate why It is a NG. On my next post, I will analyze the photo.

Here are the questions I ask. 1– Who is the photographer. In other words, what is his personality, his character. 2- What was his motive for taking the photo. 3- What type of camera. What type of lens. 4- What was the altitude of the hawk. 5- what was the lapsed time of observation. 6- How was the hawk acting, or behaving. 6- What was the SIZE of the hawk.

Now, a general question to experienced hawk watchers and to scientists. What is the chance of observing an immature accipiter with a distinct white eye- line. What is the chance of observing an immature Goshawk with a facial pattern which is immature in texture, and containing a prominent white eye- line. NB.

Correction

 My last posting of Sept. 27 incorrectly stated the date of the Whatbird posting was Sept. 28. Correct that post to Sept. 27. NB.

An Important Rule

 Beware of the way birders have been programmed. Be aware of this statement: Is this hawk a Cooper’s or a Sharp- shinned Hawk? What is wrong with this way of thinking? The Goshawk is left out of the equation.

On Sept. 28 2020, today: On Whatbird, from Mush— Raptors are migrating through South Florida now, and here’s one I can’t seem to identify. If anyone could help...The title of the post is Cooper’s Hawk or Sharp shinned Hawk. There have not been any reply yet. I say this hawk is not a Cooper’s. I am leaning strongly toward Northern Goshawk.NB.

Goshawks unreported

 This article is on how to identify accipiters. Which is the same construct as how to identify raptors. Goshawks are being well- under reported. Why? But birders, even advanced birders, do not understand the Cooper’s Hawk. If birders understood the Cooper’s Hawk, then depending on their skill level, when they observe an accipiter in flight, within seconds, they could call out “ That is not a Cooper’s Hawk”.

Let’s say you are walking a field alongside of a wood lot or a forest. And forty feet away. I realize that as a birder you would want to be walking right-up against the tree line. You notice behind your position toward the right a raptor is heading your way. The hawk is following the tree line. Your initial impression is that the hawk is an accipiter. As the hawk draws nearer you are more certain the hawk is accipiter. You feel the hawk is accipiter because of the wing beats and the low altitude of the hawk and its proximity to the trees. As the hawk draws closer you try and zero in on the head. As the hawk draws broadside, you notice the tail length. It is accipiter long. Then you observe the tail tip and the terminal band. Is the band white, or off- white. Is the band thick or thin. What of the tail tip. Is it rounded or square. Or club shaped. You observe the chest and belly for color and pattern. The head is examined for size and shape as the hawk is now past your broadside. You try and determine if the head protrudes past the wrists of the wings, in active flight. As the hawk is well- past broadside you can pick up on the chest and belly again. But, what is missing from this little adventure? The wing beats, the wing holding, and the wing structure. Most North American raptors in the East and on Puget Sound can be identified by their wing beats, wing shape and proportions, and their wing holding. I will say it again, most birders do not understand the Cooper’s Hawk in flight.

Now, let’s go over the adventure again to understand why it might be difficult to get a feel for the wings of the hawk. If it is Fall, the back ground of the scene could be made of many colors, red, brown, pink, orange, gold, tan, light green with sections of darkness. All of this adds toward a back ground of texture, therefore the wings of the hawk blend in with the texture. What about a green forest? The color green, probably more than any other color can have more values and the various values have various intensities. All this leads to a back ground of textures. So, the best way to observe raptors in flight as a student is to observe the raptor near your zenith. And the hawk should be close, for if close the hawk can be observed naked eye. Sky should be the back ground. The sky is either blue or grey. Or blue with white, or red, or orange. Now the back ground will have no texture. And this is what you might see if you are observing a Cooper’s Hawk.

Some people will say that the Cooper’s Hawk (COHA) has great control over its wings. I say the bird has the appearance of being spastic. COHA is a high- strung species. It cannot make up its mind on which path to take. The hawk might juke to the left just a few degrees, then correct its position, all within a second. The hawk might tilt and correct within a second or two. The hawk might yaw for just a second or two. At times when gaining some altitude the hawk will jump upward into the air, or appear to be jumping up steps. One wing might be higher than the other. As the hawk, tilts to turn and dive, one wing might appear to have its wing tip squared. At other times one wing shape will vary from the other wing. Sometimes the hawk will glide with its wings bowed downward. And with the primary feathers separated. You might observe the tail trembling perched and in flight. You might observe the hawk trembling in flight. I think this is the result of the hawk being high - strung. I have read that this species will kill, just for the fun of it.  All of this information I have observed from field work. In other words, not from some video, or from observing some falconer’s bird. 

I will also go out on a limb, and say that you will probably never observe a COHA in the sky during non- migration time. This species does not have an affinity for the sky. Sky is an area which is above the “air”. Sky starts at about 150 feet of altitude. Therefore, you will not observe a COHA linger, or slow down , or speed up from a slow speed, I call it skoot. The hawk will not drift, to any degree. The hawk will not circle, over and over again. In other words, the hawk will not put on a show or a performance. This creature is all business- like. 

The structure of the COHA wing: As a student of hawk watching it is certainly best to observe the hawk with the sky as a background. Even if the hawk is a silhouette, it does not matter! You are now paying attention to wing movement, wing holding, and wing shape, and possibly wing length, or relative wing length. To me the leading and the trailing edge of the wing is slightly fuzzy. It is not clean- cut. Why this is, I don’t know. Possible the the edges of the wing are slightly rounded or tucked under. I have not examined any video of this hawk in flight. The wing tip is not sharply defined. There is no large arm- small hand appearance. The leading edge of the wing might appear straight- across, with no bump at the wrist. But, some NG might show this straight edge, with no bump. The COHA might glide with wings bowed downward. Might it be possible the  wing is also bowed from leading edge to trailing edge? If so this would account for the trailing edge and the leading edge to be somewhat less sharp - looking, clean - cut.

So, there you have it . My impression of a COHA. And why birders do not fully understand or appreciate COHA in flight. Also, this species can use various tricks in order to garner prey. I call this species “Sneaky”. If you know the COHA in flight, then you will automatically know that when you observe a Sharpie or NG, that that hawk is not a Cooper’s.

Ravens- at least 18

 At Skagit Regional Airport, many Ravens were massed tightly as they circled low over the crop- land. Then seven of them left the flock and flew low over the land. About two minutes later, eleven other Ravens shot upward to about five- thousand feet altitude. It was a fifteen minute look as the circled about. And then some of the seven came back through my position. I think Ravens enjoy the sky to the same degree as gulls. Love those Ravens. Sept.20. NB.

Seattle area Goshawk

 It does not surprise me that a NG was photographed near Seattle. On WA Tweeters birding list serve, someone wanted to know if the photographs of this accipiter were of a NG. The photos were placed on flicker. It appears to me the photos certainly lean toward NG. I will just point out a few indications. The accipiter is chunky and appears to have no waist. No waist will contribute toward looking chunky. Now the big question is, might this hawk be a Sharpie? So now we must question the observer. What was the size of the bird?! The take- away, describe the bird. Sept.20. NB.

The Thought

 Ruth Race- Baiter  has passed on. I wonder if she was a birder. How would she report upon a Black- chinned Hummingbird or a Black - Headed Grosbeak? Would she use the moniker— Anonymous Birder?NB.

A Tactic

 I will be spending more time at Skagit Regional Airport, which is nine miles away, to hawk for Goshawks. NG are not rare in this area. Generally, I mostly go there on Sunday. Usually there are one- hundred or more logging trucks in this area through Saturday, daily! The parking lot is at the intersection of Ovenell Road and Higgins Airport Way. I will walk the road to the highway, and concentrate on the sky, yet well aware of the logging trucks. Then, I will go to a more peaceful area, about two miles away on 536 WSU at Mount Vernon, Research and EXT. The time spent at the airport over many years has not amounted to many visits. Usually four visits per year and very seldom in summer. But, with enough sightings of NG, that I will ask myself again, Where are these NG coming from?NB.

Goshawks— one-off sightings

 Or one-er sightings. Definition: As we went a- traveling for 13 years, money-wise it was best to stop by the month or more or by the week. To get to where we were going and usually spend four months there, we often spent one night at an RV park. So here are my drive by sightings or sighting in areas where we spent only one week or less, which indicates to me how common are NG. All of these sightings are of NG in flight but not in migration. In other words, resident raptors.  I did not say resident nesters, of course.

Towson, MD, called the suburbs of Baltimore, about 20 miles away. A female NG, imm. The raptor may have just left its perch. It was away from my position and going farther away. The next  day the same location, same altitude, same time frame, same flight direction, was a imm.female NG. I alerted the authorities. They said they would begin a search for a nest.

Carthage, MO. Very near down town a female NG soaring. The next day, in suburbs, female NG soaring.

Thackersville, OK. The largest cock- fighting hatchery in the U.S. A NG ripping along the buildings at about 20 feet altitude.

Livingston, TX. Near the Louisiana border. My first NG in Texas. Georgetown, 40 miles from Austin, my last NG sighting in Texas. Galveston, two different NG, my first and only time time there. We drove around for an hour or so.

New Mexico— Albuquerque. We were there for a week. Two daily sighting of a female NG circling over the highway. Demming — NG circling over the town.

Colorado. Near Cortes at the Indian Ruins. A male NG ripping through. I contacted the authority and was told— We Don’t Care to Post Sightings of NG, for the fear of falconers finding the nest.

Coral Pink Sand Dunes, Utah. A mature NG cutting through, because of the altitude of the hawk and the speed and direction, I think this NG was in migration.

South Rim of Grand Canyon. Four sightings within seven days. Two  of those days, a sighting of doubles.

Junction City Kansas, away from town. One sighting.

Oregon— Albany. A imm. Male at close range. On another year, imm. Male at close range. 

California— in the hills just over the rv park, a NG came ripping through. I went to the club house   to find on a clip board the birds observed at the rv park. NG was not on the list. Below Coursegold is the small village of Hazelhurst. One female NG was soaring. Red Bluff— over the highway near the town. Bakersfield— we were there at least four times. At least twice for a week. Three or four yearly sightings. This location is just off the highway east of town on Edison Road. Orange Tree ( or Blossom ) RV Park.

Washington State. Over Seattle’s Highway. Tacoma— south of Tacoma. Two more areas— over the Yakima River. And outside of Torrington.

Near the Bill Williams NWR, Ariz. on the Colorado River. Thirteen sightings of NG most of them as the hawk was perched on wire at the golf course RV park. Thirteen sightings within thirty days.

Here is one area where I have struck- out. Needles. Been there at least 4 times. Two times or so for a week. The area is west of Needles.

The best suggestion I can give you is, get to an official hawk watch site in the fall. And stick with the subject. The best to all — . NB.

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I am thinking Sharpies

 Check out Whatbird.com or forums.whatbird.com — posted Sept.11 2020. Are all These Cooper’s? By Aaron. 7 photos. I say all of them are Sharpies. The “expert” who is affiliated with the web site says— The first is a Sharpie, the rest Coops. The main reason I say Sharpie is that the hawks are all chunky. Some off the photos may be of the same bird. I will present more of what I think is an inaccurate call on this whatbird.com website. NB.

My Question to you

 My question to you is the same question to yourself. The word was to keep the bedroom doors closed. Then the comment,” Why did you open the bedroom door to go into the bedroom”. You have answered your question.

If there is a perched raptor in your yard and then it takes flight and you come to me with your description of the hawk wanting to know the type of hawk, I will ask you— Did the hawk have a long tail. If you say, “ I don’t know”, then you have answered your own question. The answer is — No. Possibly 90% of raptors observed are not heading directly only/just away either head-on or tail on. You might say that your were observing the head or the wings or the chest and belly. It does not matter. If the tail was long you would have noticed it. But, to get into another phase of hawking, tail length is not going to give you the species. In fact, the bird does not have to show/have any tail in order to name the family or the species. So, as I have published, Tails do not Nail. To call a species of accipiter it is critical to know wing beats, wing shape and proportions and wing holdings. NB.

Definition of a Cooper’s Hawk

A Cooper’s Hawk in flight— is always looking for place to perch or a place to hide. Therefore, if there are tall, thick trees, the hawk will always be looking for a landing spot. This is similar to the strategy of a glider pilot. The glider pilot is always aware of the direction and the velocity of the wind. And is always aware of the terrain. Should the wind fail, where will I put down? In other words, the Cooper’s Hawk is always looking for a place to put down. The hawk does not have an affinity for the sky. NB. 

Goshawk Skagit Regional Airport

 Sunday Sept.6. One  NG far away rising over the tree tops and circling to about 150 feet altitude. I observe for about 2 minutes as the hawk went further away and possibly went to perch beyond the tree line. I did not raise the camera, naked eye. Three Red-tailed Hawks and a Turkey Vulture were also Previously there, all over the skies. At Breazeale Center, a Sharpie ripped through at about 100 feet altitude. Nearby, 2 Ravens were right tight on the tail of a Red-tailed Hawk, ripping in and out of a tree. Bright sun and 70 degrees. NB.

It is Goshawk time

Female NG observed from bedroom window. The hawk was circling at about 200 feet altitude. Observed for about 30 seconds. Location: Near Saint Mary’s Church, Anacortes.

The goshawks have returned. Now, it is very possible to observe doubles. Actually, the hawks have been nesting near-by, and have been in seclusion in the forest. Understand— I have never observed a goshawk nest. Very seldom do I enter a forest. NB.