Hello All,
This is a fantastic time of year to get out and do some early-season raptor
nest searching. In particular, Red-tailed Hawk nesting activity is in full
swing right now. With just a little bit of effort, their nests are often
pretty easy to spot while driving down rural roads or even major highways.
Only 2 hours of driving some country roads over the past 2 days, I came
across 5 active nests. Fortunately, these were spread over 4 different
atlas blocks, and I have a bead on another possible nest in a 5th block in
south Columbus. All I need now is a good vantage point to determine whether
or not it's active.
Here are a few nest searching tips:
1. First and foremost, BE SAFE while driving roads looking for nests.
Avoid extensive searching along busy roads. It always helps to have extra
eyes in the vehicle while driving roads but if it's just you, actively
search for nests only when you're on less busy roads. Also, only stop along
roadsides when you feel it is safe to do so.
2. Searching before leafout is key. Red-tail nests can be bulky
structures and they really stand out if the tree that they're in is backlit.
3. When in doubt about a potential nest, check it out anyway. Until
you get a really good look, you'll never really know. Some nests may not
look like much, especially if they're in a woodlot that's 500 yards from the
road.
4. If you have access to a spotting scope, use it. Again, many nests
might be placed in woodlots that are very far from roads. Also, incubating
birds often hunker low in the nests and scopes help make peering eyes and
the tops of heads much more visible
5. If you find a nest close to the roadside, don't linger for extended
periods of time and view the nest from a distance. This should allow for
the least amount of disturbance to the birds during this sensitive time.
If anyone needs topo or aerial photo maps of the blocks they want to search,
just let me know and I'll send them right out. Good luck out there!
Aaron Boone
Ohio Breeding Bird Atlas II
School of Environment & Natural Resources
Ohio State University
210 Kottman Hall
2021 Coffey Road
Columbus, Ohio 43210-1085
Phone: (614) 247-6458
www.ohiobirds.org/obba2/
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