Goshawks of Whidbey Island

It is now nearing Christmas of 2020. From my reading— Northern Goshawks are a rare species on Whidbey Island. My reading might be interpreted as, Goshawks are a rare winter visitor to Whidbey Island.

It was in the springtime of 1999 when I first started living on North Whidbey Island, Deception Pass. From the get-go, I realized that NG were a common species on North Whidbey Island.

Whidbey Island is the largest island in the United States. It is long and thin. I say there are only three towns, Oak Harbor, Coupeville, and Freeland. Oak Harbor contains NAS, which is a number of squadrons of aircraft fighter jets, which is backed up by navy intelligence aircraft. A little more about this later.

I would live at Deception Pass for six years. I would live there during spring and summer and then head south for the fall and winter. I did spend one winter there. So, it was spring, summer, fall, winter, spring, and summer. I often, weekly, spent time in Anacortes. It was then that I realized, Goshawks were a common species in Anacortes. I realized that I had to be observing two sets of NG. But that is another story.

I am certain that NG are breeding on North Whidbey Island. You may think that the nearly daily noise of the fighter jets with their afterburners would drive the raptors away, but it doesn’t. The jets are practicing their their landings on aircraft carrier simulations. They are using the airfield to simulate a carrier deck. Sometimes at night. The noise can be unbearable.

Only twice have I travelled to the southern part of the island. Possibly once a year on average will I go to the central area. I say that there are not enough birders to cover the area of the island. I contend there is not one hawk watcher on the island. Even though there are 15 birding hot spots and many birding groups visit the island, this not enough to cover the island. But, of course I am not a statistician or an ornithologist.

Here are my remarkable sightings for the island. I pulled into the Sleeper Road dead end. There are some old growth trees in there. Two raptors were flying over my car. I jumped out of the car with camera and photographed two female NG flying wingtip to wingtip. I took a single shot of one and another shot— of the same hawk? Don’t know.

Triple NG at Deception Pass. Male and female were in the sky away from my position and flying farther away. Below them and behind was a male NG. That male caught up with the other two. There was a message exchanged. Then the male took off in another direction.

At the Pass- in a clearing in the forest and below tree tops was a male NG carrying prey. It crossed the clearing and then was met and held up by three crows. The NG was confused or scared and circled back around the clearing in a circle or two. Then BOOM!, a female NG entered the clearing and nearly busted into all three crows. The crows fled. The the male NG came face to face with the female NG. A message was exchanged. The female turned around and went back into the forest. Now the male was confused and started retreating and circling around the clearing. Then it made a dash into the forest, the way the female went, the initial way the male was heading. If this is not an indication of breeding Goshawks, and the nest might be within 400 yards of the clearing, then what is.

Because triple goshawks are observed, it does not necessarily indicate that NG are nesting in the area. It depends on the location. In other words, NG from disparate areas can gather in a wintering area. I would think this has the potential the spread the gene pool.

Recently, I went to birding hotspot, South Whidbey for the first time. I observed a female NG in flight three times and perched three times. Also, a male NG in flight which went into trees. Then male and female NG were deep into the sky. I received a email from a resident birder... that said, NG have never been recognized in the area.

All of my NG sightings are on North Whidbey Island, except for a female in flight in Green Bank, which is central on the island. And the recent sighting, just mentioned.

To wrap it up. Male NG were observed, all in flight but not in migration. Female NG were observed. Male and female were observed together. Triples were observed once. Very seldom have I observed a NG perched. I have observed some NG going to perch far away. I do not recall ever observing observing a Sharp- shinned hawk. And just a very few Cooper’s hawks. I have observed very few rare birds. I do not chase birds— been there, done that once. While standing in the Wall- mart parking lot in Oak Harbor, two raptors were heading toward my position, flying in tandem, at about 150 feet altitude. They came through and past my position, heading north in late spring. They appeared to be Gyr Falcons. There was one 
other rare bird sighting, that was so rare, I would not write it my field notes. I informed only one or two birders, years later. It must have been in August or September, 2001– a Whooping Crane flying over North Whidbey— flying eastward. NB.
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Red goshawks

A red goshawk is a goshawk with red or red- orange vermiculation on the chest and belly. And the underwing is also reddish. A goshawk can mimic a Cooper’s hawk with coloration and also with wing movements, but this is not true mimicry as it does not serve a purpose. The NG can fly with wing beats that are the same depth as a Cooper’s hawk and the wing beats can be stiff and straight up and down, as of a Cooper’s hawk. I have noticed this condition with the NG, but it only seems to occur when the NG is at low altitude, such as when the hawk is below 50- 75 feet altitude. I assume that this is the most efficient way for the raptor to fly at this low altitude. But the NG does not always
use this method of wing beats at low altitude.

So, what does this mean? I will jump ahead of myself with this statement— if you think that you have observed a NG— then you possibly - probably have observed a Goshawk. Now my detractors are starting to get irritated. I might as well carry on, about my sighting of red NG. Here are the locations: Rockport, TX, more than one daily sighting of female, and a sighting of a male. Bacliff, TX, a female soaring. Georgetown, TX, a female over the Jon Berry Preserve. The suburb of Houston, Kemah. A female in flight.

Arizona- Tucson, many daily sightings — all in flight of male and female. And over a period of five years. Goodyear— a male in flight.

Anacortes,WA. Daily sightings over a three year period, of female or females, and have observed a male. All in flight. To be precise, only four or five daily sightings over a 20- year period. NB.

Goshawk downtown Anacortes

A NG circling over and over again at about 150 feet altitude. The hawk was flapping with very rapid and very flexible wing beats. I happened to be sitting and eating in the Calico Cupboard. The raptor was near overhead. This is a great example of why as you advance you should practice observing naked - eye. More on this subject on another posting.

About this blog

This blog is about me and my goshawks. It is not about what you have not observed. That snide comment was aimed at my detractors. Some of you may refer to me as a — country a.. hole from the hills of Pennsylvania. That is ok, it doesn’t bother me. And I call them mountains not hills.

I am a real person, not an ornithologist, not a biologist. I am not an educated person. I will bet my detractors are howling. I am not much of a birder. I seldom go to birding hot spots. I... will seldom now carry binoculars but will often carry a camera... always have binos on the car door... am not a photographer and do not have an expensive camera, never will. Will not walk in weeds or tall grass, I am not stupid. Do not have a mentor, never will.

This website is of the raptors of Puget Sound (PS) and the same type of raptors in the East. Except in the East there are five or more species you will probably never observe in PS. The site will not refer to raptors in migration, as I do not live near a major migration route. It is about raptors on their nesting, hatching site and where they migrate, even if they migrate just ten miles.There will be few photos on this blog and they will be only mine. I will not analyze my photos for you. I will not analyze your photos for you. Much more on this subject on another posting.

I will alert you toward all my strategies and tactics. Beware, I do not wish to string you out or to aggravate. Therefore, at the very beginning of the website, I will advance some information that will bother you. I am putting this information at the beginning so that you can drop this sight effortlessly, rather than struggle through until the end. You will need an open mind to understand this blog. I am of the opinion that many advanced birders will not appreciate this blog. Nearly everything in this blog will connect with other things in this blog. This blog is about hawk watching. It is not about birding for hawks.

About field guides

Field guides can be misleading, can be inaccurate, can be confusing (especially when comparing field guides). If you have trouble identifying birds, you should peruse at least 3 field guides or better yet, 6 field guides. Also, you should dig a little more deeply that what a field guide will present.

Here is an example, non birding, of the latter subject. My neighbor says, “ Go to this local nursery for your roses. They have been in roses for many years. They have hundreds of different roses. Some of the roses are hundreds of years old. The signs say so.”
Okay- the roses are from out of state. They are shipped in bare rooted. Then they are potted. The sign “ one hundred years” means— the species were developed (hybridized) one hundred years ago. Those individual roses were all probably 3 years old.

You are in the field with me. I point out a raptor in the sky and say, “call it.” You say— Accipiter. I say— probably Cooper’s hawk, right? You say — Right. I say because of range maps and habitat, right? You say “right.” I say emphatically “ wrong.”

Explanation: Birders are too “habitat conscious” and are too “ range map dependent.” The first thing to take into account is the season. Then next should be the bird at hand. Then the habitat and the range maps. This is what I mean by the pitfalls of field guides.

You are in the field with me. I point out a raptor in the sky and say “name it.” You say — Accipiter. I say probably a Cooper’s, right. You say— Right. I say “ Why are you leaving Goshawk out of the equation, you should never leave Goshawk out of the equation.”

The real take- away from this story is that there was zero discussion on what was actually observed! NB.

More on size

I recently read — Size lies. And for the first time. I like that statement. It goes along with my profound statement- Tails do not nail. If tails don’t nail, then certainly tail tip structure and design do not nail. We are talking about accipiters here.

What does it mean when you take the length of the bird as a number? What does it mean when you take the measurement of the wing span? Mainly it means that you are working in two dimensions. You are not working with the contours of the bird! Therefore, you do not get a feel for the chest and belly of the hawk. You may not think this is important, and as a birder, I assure you, you are only interested in the “coating” of the bird- that is the general color, or the distinct color and pattern— in other words — only the coating of the bird. You are not at all interested in the various structures and movement of the bird. You are not interested in the silhouette of the bird... only the field marks. And the silhouette is the easiest way to identify raptors.

So the wingspan is a line which has no thickness or width, so you are working in only one dimension.  
Wing span has very little meaning, until we compare it with the length of the hawk. So now what we are dealing with is shape and proportions, not the actual size of the hawk. Therefore, within this blog— size of the raptor does not matter, as we are talking of the raptors of Puget Sound and the North Eastern states. But of course size will come into play, but that is when you have 6-7 years of field work with raptors, perched and in flight, at distances of 1 mile and more. And we can only use size in conjunction with many other factors and relating to a very few species. Size is always there. It is a part of our thoughts and mentality. You just have to have the concept to keep size “ under control.”

In the field: A raptor is first observed very near the bright sun, then disappears in the sun.
A raptor is circling over head in a thick fog.
A raptor is heading toward your position, at about 50 feet altitude, and is now overhead and behind your position. However, the sky is dark, such as when the sun is below the horizon.
In all 3 cases, general and specific color is absent. Therefore, field marks are absent. However, if the area is Puget Sound, probably every raptor can be identified by: wing beats, wing holding, shape and proportions, especially the structure of the wing. In all cases—size is not important— if size is used it will be misleading.

I have a made-up story concerning size... however not now, as I want to get into the meaty part of this web site.NB.

Birding Hayton Farms - Fir Island - WA

Went to Hayton Preserve today. The first time. The dirt road to the many Snow Geese was wet, slimy, dirty, and very uneven. And a large dump truck was coming through. Possibly I was to park and walk out to the prime spot. My take- away —  Been there done that. You will notice when entering near the farm house, there is a large copse of Japanese Knot Weed. To make myself clear — first time there, last time there.NB.