three days of birding

[Charlotte Ann Kisling]

Hi all,
Friday and Saturday, the Prairie Merlin was seen along Hill Road,
but not great looks. Golden Eagles are nesting on The Peninsula, but not
in the old nests. They are nesting on a cliff face a in the direction of
Petroglyph Point. From the old nests on the highest point on the
Peninsula, go two rock formations over and look for the nest where there
is a clear division between rock colorations. Another Golden Eagle pair
can be seen nesting in Butte Valley across Highway 97 from the airport.
They are using the very conspicuous artificial nesting platform. Bald
Eagles have built a nest in the eagle roost cottonwoods at Laird's
Landing. The Short-eared Owls seen regularly at the Lower Klamath Refuge
entrance were courting with a male stooping down and rapidly clapping
its wings together. It is a sight worth seeing. Go there after 5 PM and
wait for the show to begin. After finishing up with the raptor survey on
and then going to Laird's Landing, we saw a Bald Eagle heading towards
Bear Valley in the direction of my home. By the time we got to my house
a large dark bird was seen across the street, its wings were in a strong
dihedral. It obviously was not the Bald and I was ecstatic that a Golden
was so close to my home. Then, there were four more similar birds near
it. I am going to have to reread the book "Separating Golden Eagles from
Turkey Vultures for Dummies" one more time and then, just maybe, it will
begin to sink in. Still, those were the first Turkey Vultures I have
seen in almost six months.
Charlotte Ann