PHOTO BY GARRY BRANDENBURG
A Cooper’s Hawk (Accipiter cooperi) is just one of many species of raptor observed at the Grammer Grove Wildlife Area this past fall during an annual migration count. This informal but very intense schedule of observing migrating flying raptors is undertaken by Mark Proescholdt and many friends during September, October and November. Their citizen science project goal is to spend as much time as possible watching the skies over the Iowa River valley at this park when the airways fill up with migrating birds of prey. This year did not disappoint them with a total of 6,373 sightings of eagles, hawks, falcons and others.

BIRDS OF PREY can be as large as bald or golden eagles or as small as kestrels. Between these largest and smallest are more mid-sized predators of the airways. What they have in common is that they are all predatory birds shaped by Mother Nature to fill an ecological niche. Their job is to survive by finding prey species of mice, small rodents, reptiles, small birds, insects or even carrion as it suits their assigned task.

This past fall, for three months, as time and weather would allow, a team of observers came to Grammer Grove Wildlife Area to assist in data collection of raptors traveling over the Iowa River valley. Observers included Mark Proescholdt, Phil Tetzloff, Andy Spellman, Diana Pesek, Linda Rudolph, Wendy VanDeWalle and a few others.

This was the 30th year of observations made at this Marshall County Park. Why here? Because the topography of this forested area has a large bluff overlooking the valley floodplain. From this hill top, an opening in the forest canopy allows raptors passing over this spot to be counted as they move southward. Wind direction is quite helpful for the birds particularly if it is a west, northwest or north wind. However, even on some days with south breezes, the call to migrate is too strong and the raptors do what they have to do to make progress on their journeys. Weather conditions may help or hinder the migration. All of these factors have to be taken into account by the human observers.

What did they see during the September, October and November just past? Well, the total count showed 6,373. This number rates a second place within the past 30 years. Start date to observe was Sept. 6 and the last date was Dec. 17. Total observation hours came to 290 over 71 days. This is true dedication to just one life-long hobby and area of wildlife interest. Congrats to the team for undertaking the effort and finding the time to dedicate to the cause.

The top count happened to record 6,580 raptors. But getting back to 2019, it is to be expected that Broad-winged Hawks will be the species most likely to be seen. Broad-wings total came in at 3,185. Turkey Vultures came in second with 1,261. Third place were Sharp-shinned hawks at 605. Fourth place was the American Bald Eagle at 568. Red-tailed Hawks were next with 486 sightings. From these class leaders, other species filling the log book pages were Ospreys at 25, Northern Harriers at 28, Cooper’s Hawks at 80, Red-shouldered Hawks seen were 8, Swainson’s Hawks at 9, Rough-legged Hawks with 7, Golden Eagles at 4, American Kestrels added 28, Merlins 12 and Peregrine Falcons also at 12.

With the sometimes fast paced passing of raptors, key identification points had to be noted for accuracy. Easy sometimes and given the circumstances, part of the data ended up being noted but not identified for certain. Into four categories of raptors the note keepers had to list several unknown accipiters with one, unknown buteos at fourteen, unknown falcons at 6 and unknown raptors at 34.

Not every day was a “good” day in terms of big counts, but every day regardless of count can be listed as a good day to be outside. Broad-winged Hawks peaked during three consecutive days, Sept. 23, 24 and 25, with Sept. 24 being the ‘big day’ with 1,800 birds. This data seems to be a predictable item for the third week of September year after year for this species. While all the other raptor species observations covered the range of calendar days, it seems Bald Eagle peak numbers took place on Nov. 27 with 66 sightings.

All the data for the Grammer Grove “Hawk Watch” has been posted to a website called hawkcount.org. Check it out to see how the group of dedicated people use a county park for a very important reason to be outdoors enjoying nature.

NUMBER 1,455 is my current count for the number of Outdoors Today stories I have submitted to the Times-Republican newspaper. So far it has taken 28 years and three months to get to this milestone. It is fun to relate to you anything related to natural history of animals, plants, people, conservation efforts, earth science and all the associated facts pertaining to connections to the natural world. I will continue to pursue all kinds of tidbits of interest that Mother Nature offers up for inspection. And my camera and long lenses are an integral tool to record all kinds of natural moments so I can share them with you. If my work inspires you to get outside and explore on your own, so much the better. Learning is a life-long endeavor.

Several major themes underlies any writings I make. What are they? Truth, facts and huge doses of reality. My research can be wide and hopefully thorough so as to impart for you truths about how the natural world works. This is important since truth does matter and it matters a lot. It is what always wins in the long run. Remember this: If a lie is told often enough, that does make it a truth. It remains an attempt to persuade you to give up your critical thinking skills.

People interacting with nature proves how important outdoor activities have become. It truly is a huge factor in how we define quality of life. The canvas that you may paint for yourself only has to include those things you define as priorities. It will be a different canvas for others. However, I think you can see how fishing or hunting or hiking or camping, nature and conservation study, photography, walks or bike rides on trails or wildlife watching interact to complete the picture you want to paint for yourself.

Just as we are more dependent upon nature than we may wish to acknowledge, all wildlife species are dependent upon habitats. And here is a fact to remind yourself of: Wildlife species cannot be stockpiled. They are not inanimate objects to be accumulated and put on shelves to be brought out as we humans may seem fit. They are biological critters and plants subject to the laws of survival and competition as imposed by Mother Nature herself. Their populations have ups and downs, some of which mankind can offer management schemes to habitats that can assist in the process of those plant and animals thriving.

Like all living things, they may come and go on time scales short or geologically long. An example of short term and unwise thinking may propose that not hunting a particular species will add to their numbers in future years. Not necessarily. Wildlife cannot be stockpiled. We can perhaps allow for a build up of a species if its known habitats can be enhanced. But controlling factors scientists will be forever trying to sort out are why some species thrive and others always seem to be on the edge of low numbers.

There are no simple solutions to complex problems. I’ve noted this theme many times in my past Outdoors Today columns. It will not go away and should not go away. We all must be attentive to what the facts are. We must enable our “truth detector antennae” to tell us to do more fact finding before just blindly accepting a supposed simple solution to a complex problem. To that end, stay tuned during 2020 for more Outdoors Today stories and more facts, truths and huge doses of reality.