06-14-13 Field Note

Block title

06-14-13 Field Note

June 14, 2013

Raptor View Research and Debbie Leick's Field Note showed a young red-tailed hawk banding, a western tanager, and feral horse foals.

PDF icon Download (4.63 MB)

06-14-13 Field Note

This male MacGillivray’s warbler made a rare appearance outside thick shrub cover. I took advantage of the opportunity and snapped many photos.

A female dusky grouse perched in an isolated ponderosa pine above Last Draw. Last year, a female used the same tree. Indian paintbrush, below, splashed crimson across the landscape.

Next to a herbicide-treated field, a remnant patch of crested wheatgrass provides cover for a vesper’s nest. Bitterbrush, below, shelters another.

Bitterroot, above, and cushion buckwheat flowers, below, brightened a gray day.

The feral horses stood by their adorable offspring.

A Swainson’s thrush perched above the shrubby understory it prefers. The brilliant plumage of a male western tanager, below, made it easy to spot.

Fresh, mushy scat provided evidence that a bear wandered through Woodchuck and overturned this rock.

A pollen-coated bee probed this sticky geranium flower. A snakefly crawled across leafy spurge blooms.

A chipmunk scurried into a shrub and hung upside down by its hind feet.

feet. This open canopy forest may suit flammulated owls. We installed an acoustic recorder to monitor the area for owls and other nocturnal species.

On a cool, breezy morning, these motionless butterflies sheltered on vegetation.

Cryptic feather colors and patterns lend beneficial camouflage to a ruffed grouse. A wild rose bud began to unfurl.

A beautiful, woven nest belongs to a pair of lazuli buntings. Photo credit: Kate Stone

Lazuli Bunting

Bright colors and bold wing patterns identify this tiger moth. A great horned owl roosts in Woodchuck.

This nest in a forked ponderosa pine contains a young red-tailed hawk. We attempted to retrieve, measure and band the bird before it left the nest.

Special skills and equipment propelled Lucas up the ponderosa.

At the nest, Lucas placed the young hawk in a cloth pack and lowered it to Rob Domenech and his crew. They measured the bird and outfitted it with a unique combination of color bands. Within ten minutes, Lucas returned the bird to its nest.

Rob holds the color-banded chick (above) as its parent protests (below).

Woodchuck Creek

Previous Field Note

06-10-13 Field Note

Next Field Note

06-18-13 Field Note