Birders to Watch Like Hawks for Raptors

Prairie falcons and ferruginous hawks once wheeled above Orange County skies, but development finally decimated the flat, open spaces they need for hunting, and they mostly disappeared, save for a few rare sightings.

On Saturday, the Sea & Sage chapter of the National Audubon Society will sponsor a field trip to the Antelope Valley to see these and possibly other raptors, including merlins, American kestrels, red-tailed hawks, rough-legged hawks, golden eagles, Cooper’s hawks, sharp-shinned hawks, black-shouldered kites and northern harriers.

“There’s usually plenty of wintering hawks that don’t occur in Southern California” the rest of the year, said trip leader Pete Bloom, a biologist who is probably Orange County’s best-known expert on birds of prey.

The field trip is open to non-members and to people with or no birding experience, including photographers and all nature lovers.

Because some hawks are migratory, this annual field trip is timed to take in species that visit Southern California only in winter. The trip used to go to Harper Dry Lake, east of Barstow, but development there (mostly solar energy and agriculture) has led to a sharp drop in the raptor population.

The Antelope Valley still has plenty of the kind of open spaces that these birds like: flat, undeveloped land and alfalfa fields.

Participants will meet at a designated spot in the Antelope Valley at 7 a.m. and drive from location to location until about 2 p.m. The trip north takes about 2 1/2 hours.

“My goal is to not just show people hawks that we see off in the distance,” Bloom said. To that end, he will try to trap a few so people can get a close-up view. He will also tell about their ecology and about their status in the wild.

Bloom, 41, is a lifelong Orange County resident who has studied hawks and owls since his teens and watched as their numbers have dwindled. Non-birders are welcome on the trip, he said, to spread appreciation of hawks and other raptors in the hopes that increased awareness will help their chances of survival.

Bloom recommends bringing warm clothing, lunch and binoculars. Reservations are not required.