Raptor Nest and Owl Surveys
June 6th, 2010
First week with HawkWatch International
Wasatch Mountains from the West Desert
The 2010 summer filed season has started, and I find myself in Salt Lake City, UT conducting raptor nest and owl surveys for HawkWatch International—an NGO (non-government organization). 
My position will last until the second week of July and consists of visiting Golden eagle (GOEA) and Ferruginous hawk (FEHA) nests to see if they’re occupied with either brooding raptors and/or chicks and document the success rate of each occupied nest. The first week of work my two supervisors, and I, along with two other field technicians went to the west desert in the NW corner of the state and learned the study protocol for the Great Basin Raptor Nest Survey (GBRNS–pronounced G-Burns) project.
Study Area (HWI (2010)
It basically consists of locating previous found nests and observing if there is any activity. The project has been on going for 10 plus years and has located and documented what appears every GOEA and FEHA hawk nest in the west desert of Utah. Imagine knowing where every robin and sparrow nest is for the block you live on and then extrapolate that to a corner of the state you live in. It’s impressive and boggles my minds as to how many hours were spent locating these nests. Our team spent the majority of the week looking at GOEA nests due to the difference between the initiation dates of the two species. GOEA begin in early February to late March and FEHA begin in mid March to mid April.
GOEA Nest--look closely
A GOEA can have up to 4 or 5 nests in a given territory and may be scattered within the same rock face or amongst several different cliffs within its territory. FEHA nests on the other hand are usually atop pinion pine trees or occasionally atop a utility pole. My job is to visit an assigned territory, document if the territory is occupied, what nest(s) are occupied, and if there are any chicks in the nest. If there are chicks we need to age them, which I find difficult to do.
Sometimes my partner and I have waited an hour at each nest to confirm activity or inactivity. The reason for this is, if the assigned nest is occupied by a GOEA or FEHA and we cannot see into the nest bowl using a spotting scope to confirm activity the theory is there should be some type of activity at the nest within an hour.
One of the adults will either get up to rearrange the eggs, repositioning its body, or exchange brooding duties. Once the waiting game has been played each nest is ranked for its overall condition and potential use of poor, fair, good, or excellent. Ranking a nest is relatively easy after viewing 8 to 10 nests.
When a nest is occupied it is relatively easy to tell because there will either be adornment atop 
and/or constructed into the nest bowl (fresh material compared to sun bleached material), whitewash, a head of the brooding raptor or chick can be seen. GOEA chicks are adorable looking with their large black eyes, dingy colored down, large body, small wings, and head. Their body reminds me of a Cornish hen.
Focusing the spotting scope on a nest I noticed a chick laying in a prone position an inch or two away from the nests edge waiting out the minutes to its next feeding while not appearing alarmed that the desert floor is 2-300 ft below.
Days away from the field we are allowed to stay at the field house located in the Sugarhouse neighborhood of Salt Lake City. 
It was one of the first places in the U.S. where sugar was extracted from sugar beets. There is a large porch to seek refuge from the sun and it overlooks a blooming rose garden. The backyard has 3 mews (cages for raptors) where an American kestrel, Red-tailed hawk, and a Swainson hawk are housed and used to educate the public about raptor conservation. 
Each bird has its own story as to how it came to HawkWatch and why it can no longer be released into the wild.
To my surprise the two hawks and kestral are fed everyday except Sunday. They are fed small mice and usually receive at least 4 – 6 mice per bird. Watching the kestral eat I was surprised by how effortless and quick it was for it to sever the mouse’s head from its spine. It is similar to how a human pinches off a dandelion head from its stem. It then dropped the head and began to feed. For some reason the kestral does not like to eat the entrails and pulls them out and discards them. I was told by the volunteer that the hawks do the same thing when eating the mice given to them.
Silver Island Mountains and the salt flats of the West Desert