Hawk watching on Green Ridge

"Here comes a couple of TVs ... and oh, yeah, over near the big pine on the right I can see a red-tail soaring!" exclaimed a person looking through a spotting scope.

"Whoa! Whoa! Look over there," shouted a woman with binoculars, peering over the trees to the north. "Right by the ridge to the north there's an aerial battle

going on!"

Everyone started looking through their binoculars at the faraway ridge and then a voice spoke: "Yeah, it looks like a red-tail and a Cooper's hawk. Wow! Look at 'em go at each other!"

Fourteen adults and an 8-year-old young man by the name of George were gathered together near the Green Ridge Lookout to take part in the annual raptor migration count run by the East Cascades Audubon Society and the High Desert Museum.

David Vick, retired teacher from Terrebonne, is coordinator of the raptor count this year that runs to the third weekend in October. Every Thursday, Saturday and Sunday he and his band of citizen-scientist volunteers will be at the site from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., recording the raptors and other bird species that pass over the count station.

The count is also in partnership with Hawkwatch International (www.

hawkwatch.org), a world-wide citizen-scientist organization that gathers data and conducts research on raptors, which is then passed on to several wildlife management agencies.

It doesn't matter if you're an old-time birder or a beginner bird-watcher - or if you're just curious and want to see what counting raptors is all about - give Vick a call at 541-923-6943, and he'll give you directions on how to get to the count site.