Hawkwatch! Bonney Butte 10/24

[pdxgene]

Well originally this was going to be about all the pretty fall colors at Boulder Lake and Bonney Meadows. But we've had enough of that so this'll be better.. And if you don't think so, this gal will be paying you a visit. Keep your cats inside

A big thanx to the guys up at the Hawkwatch Intl lookout (http://www.hawkwatch.org) who made the following possible..

A little wing..

Then time to get the heart racing a bit... The handoff...

Uh-oh... now what do I do?

But all cool things must come to an end and it was just about time for her to go back to doing hawky type things..

And though the rest is kinda anticlimatic after that you do get a great view of Mt Hood from Bonney Butte..

The pics from Bonney Meadows are in the webalbum but here's a few shots of the pretty fall colors around Boulder Lake..

Lots more from just a great day at http://picasaweb.google.com/pdxgene/BoulderLake3
Thanks to Jim and Joan for coming along. If you ever get a chance to do this I can't recommend it enough. I can't put into words how cool it was to hold him.
They finish up for the year this week but will have a schedule on their website.
What a great day!

[funhog]

All I can say is WOW! Oh...and why didn't you take me along?

[Waffle Stomper]

I've been wanting to do this for a couple years and keep postponing it. I'm doing it next year. Thanks for the cool trip report and great pictures too.

[geographics]

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[pdxgene]

She was pretty light but part of that might have been my adrenaline going a bit. I kept thinking to myself, 'shouldn't I need a glove or something?' That's kinda the way you usually see it. And, 'isn't that beak a few inches from me supposed to be pretty sharp?'. He told me just not to make any sudden moves. 'Ok....'

[Splintercat]

AWESOME, Gene..! Wow!

Beautiful colors at Boulder Lake, too -- your day was an eleven on the Spinal Tap scale..! Thanks for posting!

-Tom

[Peder]

Uh-oh... now what do I do?

PUT ON YOUR SHADES! And you did just that... (Who would want an eye poked out?)

Superb! Thanks for the heads up, now I will try to go.

[bobcat]

I was actually up at the HawkWatch site the day before you (Sunday), but didn't have time to post (I am somewhat in wonder at all these "instant" postings - it always takes me a few days to find the time).

Anyway, I didn't get to coddle a red-tail. Best I could do was get close to a juvenile sharp-shinned hawk:

I am in Audubon, but it's always amazing to watch master birders at work: "one-year-old female sharpie at 3 o'clock" - and all I can see is a tiny black dot at least a mile away. I was up there about 40 minutes and our tally during that time was a few sharp-shinned hawks, several red-tails, Cooper's hawk, goshawk, merlin, golden eagle; in addition: flocks of mountain bluebirds, pine siskins, ravens and a Clark's nutcracker.

I go up there every few years and take the 471 trail from where it crosses FR 48, 6 1/2 miles south of the junction with Highway 35 at the White River Bridge. Most of this west slope of Bonney Butte is now part of a new exclave to the Badger Creek Wilderness and this is the only trail that runs through it. It's a longer hike than other approaches but less driving, all on paved roads.

John

[pdxgene]

They told us that they had caught and banded a record number just a few days ago. They were bringing a couple more back but it was running late and we had a decent trip back to the trailhead. We figure next year we want to go back and spend more time up there and just suck it up and drive into Bonney Meadows campground.
I want to try an eagle next year..

I know there's an entire little network of trails back there without a lot of info posted on them and wasn't sure if they were used much by hunters.