I don’t think of Ashland pond as a raptor hot spot, but it sure was today. The usual Red-shouldered Hawk was perched in a leafless cottonwood, but the rest of the parade was unexpected. First came aerial combat: Peregrine and Prairie Falcon overhead, with the latter retreating first downstream, and the Peregrine soaring gracefully in the same general direction. After driving the Prairie Falcon from the vicinity.It was apparently two Peregrine vying for mastery of the air space. Dick Ashford looked carefully at my largest files of the images and sees mostly field marks of Peregrine on both birds so tail shape mayu not be significant. And I lucked into some images:
This third image was the victorious Peregrine after the Prairie Falcon other bird had soared off:
The Peregrine does nest in Jackson County, at Lower Table Rock and on other cliff faces, especially in the Cascades. With the Peregrine peroration both birds moved off the same westward direction. There had been some screaming, a lot of rapid dives and swoops, some good feints, no feathers lost nor any contact made that I saw.
CUE THE NEXT RAPTOR
These are images of a Northern Harrier (of the brown persuasion, not an adult male) also heading downstream over Ashland Pond, about a minute after the Bald Eagle soared past and two minutes after the falcon kerfuffle. Thus my five raptors and NOT ONE Red-tailed Hawk!
ON ICE For birds not soaring overhead, it was life on ice.
The Pied-billed grebe above was paddling about one of the two small areas of open water on an overwise frozen pond. The female Shoveler was literally on ice, one of only two ducks at Ashland Pond where a week ago under warmer temps there were over two dozen ducks, at least half of them were Ring-necks where only one male remained today.
Even the hardy Yellowp-rumped Warbler was out in the sun on the log frozen in place, pickiing food particles off the ice.
Ashland Pond, Jackson, OR. Jan 12, 2013 11:45 AM. 23 species
Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) 25
Northern Shoveler (Anas clypeata) 1
Ring-necked Duck (Aythya collaris) 1
Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps) 3
Northern Harrier (Circus cyaneus) 1
Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) 1
Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus) 1
American Coot (Fulica americana) 5
Acorn Woodpecker (Melanerpes formicivorus) 4
Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus) 2
Western Scrub-Jay (Aphelocoma californica) 4
Ruby-crowned Kinglet (Regulus calendula) 1
American Robin (Turdus migratorius) 1
Varied Thrush (Ixoreus naevius) 2
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Setophaga coronata) 4
Spotted Towhee (Pipilo maculatus) 10
Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia) 2
Golden-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia atricapilla) 2
Dark-eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis) 12
Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) 2
Purple Finch (Haemorhous purpureus) 14
Lesser Goldfinch (Spinus psaltria) 7
House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) 5
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