[obol] A 5 raptor morning at Fink Family Farm, Yamhill Co.

[Linda Fink]

A BARN OWL flew by outside our bedroom window just at dawn. After I 
finally got out of bed and stepped out the front door, a WRENTIT was 
singing. Okay, so that's not a raptor, it's still a good bird for 
Yamhill Co.

While doing chores, the resident KESTREL was hunting, as usual, from the 
bamboo poles I use to hang the swallow nests in the summer.

Walking over to feed the horses, I heard Ravens carrying on. Not too 
much disturbs them, so I looked to see what was going on. An adult BALD 
EAGLE was on the snag-topped Grand Fir by our little creek being 
harassed by a Raven. The eagle finally screamed and dove at the pest 
(Ravens look very small next to an eagle) but the raven easily eluded 
the eagle and kept pestering. The eagle flew off to a nearby fir and 
landed. The raven went back to the snag-top fir, which is a favorite 
perch for many birds. Obviously, it's not size that counts so much as 
attitude.

A RED-TAILED HAWK sat across a field watching silently.

The eagle and the raven stayed on their respective perches for the next 
half hour. While milking goats, I could look out the south window of the 
milk room and see the raven with the eagle just beyond. Turning to look 
out the east window, the neighborhood COOPER'S HAWK was on its favorite 
perch on a flat-topped Grand Fir along our driveway.

That's 5 raptors before noon. Or 5 raptor species...

The eagle flew off about 10 minutes after the raven had left. When I was 
cleaning the barn later and pushing the wheelbarrow out to the manure 
pile, I saw two adult bald eagles sitting side by side in a tree to the 
north, about 1/4 mile away. So make that 6 individual raptors on our 
farm this morning. Life is good.

Linda Fink, sw Yamhill County near Grand Ronde