Rough-legged hawk in Corvallis

[Olin Allen]

I just had one of the oddest raptor observations of my life while returning from an errand in Corvallis.  I was northbound on the four-lane section of 99-W between the railroad overpass and Circle Blvd, in other words on the back side of Miller Paint, Bed, Bath & Beyond, Grocery Outlet and other stores that front on 9^th Street.  Somewhere in the vicinity of Spaeth Lumber I spotted a large raptor perched on the eave of a building, no more than 15 ft off the ground and 50 ft from the edge of the road surface.  Having seen red-tails in this location numerous times – including perched on the same building – I assumed that’s what it was until I drove past it and found myself staring at a ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK.  It appeared to be a light morph adult female.  There is a little bit of open space across 99-W from this spot, and some more further east of the RR tracks near the HP campus, but for an open-country species this was certainly a very strange perch.  What’s next?  Will they start emulating Cooper’s hawks and hanging out in residential areas?

 

Olin

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Olin Allen

Shangri-Llama Farm

Monmouth, Oregon

 

[Hendrik Herlyn]

Funny! A little while ago (around 3:40 pm) I saw a Rough-legged Hawk in that exact same area of town and thought what a strange location this was for that species. Cool city bird!

Hendrik

On Mon, Dec 9, 2019 at 3:30 PM Olin Allen <olin...@earthlink.net> wrote:

I just had one of the oddest raptor observations of my life while returning
from an errand in Corvallis.  I was northbound on the four-lane section of
99-W between the railroad overpass and Circle Blvd, in other words on the
back side of Miller Paint, Bed, Bath & Beyond, Grocery Outlet and other
stores that front on 9th Street.  Somewhere in the vicinity of Spaeth Lumber
I spotted a large raptor perched on the eave of a building, no more than 15
ft off the ground and 50 ft from the edge of the road surface.  Having seen

red-tails in this location numerous times - including perched on the same
building - I assumed that's what it was until I drove past it and found

myself staring at a ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK.  It appeared to be a light morph
adult female.  There is a little bit of open space across 99-W from this
spot, and some more further east of the RR tracks near the HP campus, but
for an open-country species this was certainly a very strange perch.  What's
next?  Will they start emulating Cooper's hawks and hanging out in
residential areas?



Olin

------------

Olin Allen

Shangri-Llama Farm

Monmouth, Oregon

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__________________________
Hendrik G. Herlyn
Corvallis, OR

"Nature is not a place to visit. It is home."
     -- Gary Snyder

[Lisa Millbank]

Don and I saw a hawk there yesterday that we probably shouldn't have passed off as the resident Red-tail!  In past years, there has been a Rough-legged in that general area sometimes.  There's a large field containing a solar panel array just to the east, and a huge hay field a little farther beyond, so there's a little suitable habitat around there.  Yesterday there was a Merlin eating prey at the Power Buick/GMC dealership just south of the Rough-legged site.  Maybe it caught a Buick's Wren?

Lisa Millbank

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[clear...@peak.org]

Very cool "urban" sighting!

But that neighborhood is also home to nesting Brewer's Blackbirds. I see it as a grassland that was only recently taken over by development.

Merlins often like to hang out atop the conifers at the Oregon State Credit Union, just across from the feeders at Wild Bird Unlimited.

Following on Lisa's post, I have an old Northwest poetry collection that includes a memorable poem, "The Ghost of the Buick," by Bruce Hawkins if I remember right. Younger folks on this list might have never heard of a Buick, but I do still think of that every time I see a Bewick's Wren.

Joel

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From: "Lisa Millbank" <millba...@gmail.com>
To: "Hendrik Herlyn" <hhac...@gmail.com>
Cc: "Olin Allen" <olin...@earthlink.net>, "Mid-Valley Nature" <mid-vall...@googlegroups.com>, "birding" <bir...@midvalleybirding.org>
Sent: Monday, December 9, 2019 6:09:33 PM
Subject: Re: [MidValleyNature:5132] Re: [midvalleybirds] Rough-legged hawk in Corvallis

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/mid-valley-nature/CAEVJLM4NdV_M5dseU9XDHGA92_r6JNuGbR0QWVJotM%3D92qzJHg%40mail.gmail.com.

[Olin Allen]

But still, I would think that the minimum patch size for wintering rough-legs is on the order of dozens, probably hundreds of acres of open habitat, not the small patches available in this area.  Or, maybe this bird is showing us that's not the case?

Olin

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[clear...@peak.org]

From a birds-eye view, that area may look more open than it looks to us from street level.

Here's a Google-Earth image of that area. There's about a 1200 yard long by 600 yard wide area (so close to 180 acres) that includes a wide triangle of grassland, a few very large flat-topped buildings, parking lots, and only a few clumps of trees.

I suppose a Rough-legged Hawk might see the flat-topped buildings and parking lots as functionally similar to rock outcrops and barrens.

This area is also regularly home to Barn Owls, which also tend to prefer open habitats.

Joel

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From: "Olin Allen" <olin...@earthlink.net>
To: "Mid-Valley Nature" <mid-vall...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Tuesday, December 10, 2019 11:32:39 AM
Subject: [ADV] Re: [MidValleyNature:5135] Re: [midvalleybirds] Rough-legged hawk in Corvallis

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[Lisa Millbank]

Within 1.5-2 miles of that site, there are 500+ acres of open space, to the east and southeast (including some fields across the river).  I'm not sure how far they roam in winter, but that's probably enough for a single Rough-leg.

Lisa Millbank

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[JAMES D SMITH]

I had a Red Shouldered Hawk, plus juvenile, for a while hunting the European Rats supported by a neighbor. Given the concentration of possibilities in the area noted on this bird, there might be plenty to eat within a short distance. By the bye, E. rats do come out during the day when they get high enough concentration; rather eerie.

Jim

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From: mid-vall...@googlegroups.com <mid-vall...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Olin Allen <olin...@earthlink.net>
Sent: Tuesday, December 10, 2019 11:32 AM
To: Mid-Valley Nature <mid-vall...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: [MidValleyNature:5135] Re: [midvalleybirds] Rough-legged hawk in Corvallis

 

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