Heading to Apache Junction- 2008

We departed Anacortes on 13 October. On 14 October 2008 at 5:20 pm, north of Red Bluff, California, Exit 451 on Interstate 5 - 1 male Goshawk in flight at elevation of about 75 feet.
We were to spend 2 weeks at an Escapee's RV Park called North Ranch. Location; 4 miles south of Congress, Arizona, Hwy 89- mile post 264. This area is high desert. 18 October 2 pm- 1 female Northern Goshawk (NG). EOB about 200 feet. OT- 3 minutes. The bird had a square-tip tail with a white terminal band. Also, same location- a male Red-naped Sapsucker. 19 October 4 pm - 1 male NG hunting.

Photos - Goshawks- A. Junction

Dear Birders; and hawk-watchers ( and there is a world of difference). Any person who claims they know how to identify raptors in flight, or claims to know how to identify raptors in flight from photos: and claims that any of these photos might be of a Cooper's Hawk - then that person is a LIAR! These photos are being published for the first time.

1 female Goshawk

1 female Goshawk - 6 Nov. 2005 - 4PM; Route 60 and Ironwood.

First of 2 photos (1a)

Northern Goshawk-1of 2 photos

1 female Goshawk - 6 Nov. 2005 - 4 pm.; Route 60 and Ironwood

(2 photos of same bird) - this is photo 1b.

Female Goshawk - 1of 2 photos

1 female Goshawk - 18 Nov. 2005 - 3:45 pm.; Route 60 and Ironwood

Note: this bird has a square-tip tail; first of 2 photos.

female Goshawk - 2 photos

1 female Goshawk - 18 Nov. 2005 - 3:45 pm.; Route 60 and Ironwood

(photo 2c)

Female Goshawk 25 Nov. 2005

1 female Goshawk - photo 3 - 25 Nov. 2005; Route 60 and Ironwood.

Goshawks from Route 60 and Ironwood

30 Nov 2005; 7AM (2 photos)

The first of four goshawks that infiltrate my position; overpass from route 60 and Ironwood.

early AM Goshawk

30 Nov. 2005 7:04 AM.

A good example of raptor identification under low light conditions. The sun is not above the horizon, certainly not above the mountain's ridge line. This is the 4th Goshawk to infiltrate my position; on route 60 - Ironwood overpass..

Accipiter Alert

On at least 6 occasions, I have observed Northern Goshawks with what I call "Goshawks with expressed recessive genes". In Tucson, winter 2000-01, I went for the first time, to the parking lot of Costco on Grant. Within 20 minutes a mature female Goshawk presented. The bird came over head at elevation of about 200 feet. The lighting conditions were excellent.This bird had red vermiculation on the belly, chest, and under wing coverts.

In Rockport, Texas - winter 2002-03: I had many sightings, over a 4-month period, of the same mature female Goshawk. This bird had a dark gray dorsal area. The chest, belly, and under wing coverts were red-orange.

In February 2005, in Anacortes, Washington: 1 mature female Goshawk; elevation of bird about 300 feet. The lighting conditions were excellent. The bird was near over head. The chest, belly, and under wing coverts were red.

My 3 latest sightings of Goshawks with this condition; winter 2005-06, Tucson; 1 Goshawk; far off. In April, 2007; Anacortes, Washington, at close range over head; 1 mature male. In Goodyear, Arizona - 14 October 2007; 1 mature male.

In winter 2006-07, I had a brief meeting with 3 biologists from the Arizona Game and Fish Department. Michael Ingraldi (research biologist) Ph.D., informed me that at a Goshawk nest in Heber, Arizona, he had tried to trap a mature female at the nest. The bird was not to be trapped. The bird had a red chest and belly.

On a Christmas Bird Count in New Jersey, Pete Kwiatek and I saw a mature female Goshawk, pumping low over the ground. This bird had a pink throat and upper chest. This is a rare condition, but not unhead of.

Conclusion; if you are using field marks to identify accipiters - at times, you may be taking the wrong path.

pink and black

Pink and black - from the 1950s - will it ever come back? Will that Goshawk you saw, travelling through the sky, ever come back? The answer is probably Yes! And for 2 reasons. So you go to your local authorities, the Fish and Game Department and the Audubon Society, and you speak with the president and a field-trip leader, and you get the same vapid, canned response, "that bird was probably just passing through". So logic now states; the best time to see that bird or its progeny again is to wait 1 year from that sighting and then set -up a hawk-watch site, hoping to see that bird again. Right? Wrong! The proper (logical) time to look for that bird again - is now!

Depending on your location - latitude and altitude - that bird may be the product of a nesting situation; even though the nest is 5 or even 10 miles away from your sighting. Or that bird has been in your area - as a winter visitor for many years, yet now you are starting to notice the bird. The other situation could be that the bird is entering your area for the first time, and may spend 3 or 4 months in your area as a winter resident. One other thought problem: if your area is or could be conducive to breeding Goshawks, then that visiting winter-raptor or its progeny or phenotype might stay in your area and become a breeder.

As an aside - on a New Jersey Christmas bird count, Pete Kwiatek and I saw a mature, female Goshawk - pumping low over the ground. This bird had a pink throat and upper chest. This is unusual, but not unheard of.

words have meaning

These photos of Goshawks of Apache Junction combined with photos of Goshawks of Anacortes will also be added to my blog www.goshawksofanacortes.blogspot.com. As we are instructed in tai-chi that arm is arm; leg is leg; and shoulder is shoulder - so is Goshawk is Goshawk; and Cooper's Hawk is Cooper's Hawk. There is a world of difference between a Cooper's Hawk and a Northern Goshawk. I am referring particularly to raptors in flight. Getting back to field marks - I do not use field marks to identify many raptors. Please notice - Pete Dunne's "Hawks in Flight", and William Clark's "Hawks". Please read the literature; the photos are of a secondary nature. Words have meaning. The simple way that I write my field notes have meaning. I do use field marks to sex and age raptors. Sometimes, I chase raptors on foot, bicycle, or truck. This action can be easily accomplished, since one of my main strategies is to nearly- always try and hawk watch from the "flats".

field guide modifications

So, do I know a lot about Northern Goshawks? I personally know little about Goshawks. But there is nobody who knows more of Goshawk habitat, migration, and distribution than what I know. All field guides need to be modified to show the true habitat, migration , and distribution of Goshawks. Very few field guides will state "Goshawks are a common species in many areas of the United States". Those same field guides then will state that the raptors are elusive. Again, my mantra, Goshawks can be an elusive species - but not in the sky. This is why birders should meet the challenge and become hawk-watchers. My other mantra - I beg for you to understand what hawk-watching is all about!

some hints

Goshawks can hunt (or protect each other) in pairs or triples. Cooper's don't. Goshawks love the wind, sun, clouds, and thermals. Cooper's don't - but do, during migration. Goshawks cavort. Cooper's don't.

field marks are tag alongs

Any birder who uses field marks to identify raptors is working under a handicap. What if the lighting conditions are of a low quality? What if the bird is turned the "wrong way"? What if leaves or limbs blog your view? How will you treat unusual plumage? What if the bird gives you a three-second look - then flies off its perch? And that raptor in the sky, giving you that 10-minute look, remains intellectually unresolved. To see a perched Goshawk is a "rare event". But this rare event is but one side of a coin. Northern Goshawks can be an elusive species, but not in the sky!

skills, insights, tactics are needed

Dear birders and hawk-watchers (and there is a big difference): I have been trained - in the field - (unofficially) by 5 professional hawk-watchers. All of these professional birders also have other professional disciplines. Yet, I have gained not one shred of my skills, insights, and tactics leading toward finding and observing Northern Goshawks from any individual or organization. If you have an intelligent question, I will try and give you an answer. Let me explain - I have never seen a Goshawk nest. I have never seen a Goshawk take prey. I have seen Goshawks carrying prey. In New Jersey, I saw a mature, female Goshawk at elevation of about 200 feet, flapping as she carried a large possum.

I am no mystery man

I am not particularly interested in perched raptors - to me a perched raptor is a dead raptor - as is a stuffed animal. Please do not ask me why I have a passion for wild, Northern Goshawks. And don't ask me what field marks I use to identify Goshawks. Do you think I am more knowledgeable than David Sibley or William Clark, when it comes to field marks? Do you think I side-step the concrete information contained in field guides, relating toward raptor field marks? Of course not! But - as an aside - other (new) field marks are being introduced. No matter - field marks are not the bird (just a part of the bird).

Goshawk migration

It has been written that Goshawks do not do a complete migration. Do some Goshawks migrate and those same Goshawks at other times, do not migrate? Do Goshawks do a stepping-stone migration? Do Goshawks do an east-west migration? Why do all the Goshawks entering Texas have to go completely through Texas in order to get into Mexico? ANSWER- they don't! Some of those Goshawks do a "drop-off", and winter in Livingston, Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, and Rockport. The same concept applies to the Goshawks of Southern Coastal California. They don't all have to get into Mexico!

What happened to the logic

From my writings: Do you mean to say that over 370 species of birds have been seen at Tijuana Slough, including Red-tailed, Red-Shouldered, Cooper's and Sharp-shinned Hawks, and the is no niche for a Northern Goshawk? What happened to the logic? Did the logic dissipate into the sky? If you were looking into the sky for the logic, you would have found the Goshawk!