Andrew Eberly and Julia Fromfeld sit on a ridge, moving their binoculars mechanically along an imaginary grid — both in a state of total zenned out detachment.
In unison, they recline back into the prone position, scanning the sky above them, just to make sure they didn't miss any of the migrating raptors, sneaking by as the sun begins to lower itself to its nightly resting place.
Long minutes of silence pass. Andrew Grant joins them, taking up a perch.
"It's just calming," he says. "It's almost a meditative state."
They are part of a team counting raptors for Hawkwatch International, a nonprofit group whose mission is to conserve the environment through long-term research and the monitoring of raptors.
Just outside of Kemmerer, they sit atop a long expanse of land known as Commissary Ridge for two months out of the year, keeping data on bird migration and weather patterns. That data is later compiled and interpreted along with data from 15 other sites across North America.
Clouds pepper the sky, swirling like milk in coffee. They froth with fizzy effervescence in the deep breadth of the atmosphere, ethereal whiteness in so much blue.
And just when you think you have fallen from the face of the earth into that heavenly meditation, a hawk swoops in to attack the fake, plastic owl on a pole down the ridge — put up just to upset the hawks.
Welcome back to earth.
Section-by-section, they pick apart the blue, anchored only by earthly formations named to divide the vast space into an imaginary grid. At the left are the Sublette Mountains and then Granny Mountain. Then there are Ganth's Teeth, known as GT, number one, two, three and four.
There is the North Ridge, Kilas Nose and Kilas Pine. At the right are the Quills and Opal Bench.
Directions are given like this: Sharpie. Two fields up over GT two. And sure enough. There it is.
Their knowledge of these birds is impeccable. To most, these black little dots look like the little black floaters you get in your eyeballs. To them, they are sharp-shinned hawks, Cooper's hawks, Northern Goshawks, Merlins, red-tailed hawks, golden eagles and bald eagles. They are rough-legged hawks, Swanson's hawks, northern harriers, turkey vultures, American kestrels and prairie falcons — flashes of feather, silhouette and markings, all identified, recorded and calculated.
Every now and then things get exciting.
"What is happening up here?" says Eberly as the birds begin to swirl, or "kettle" in bird-speak.
"So one ... two ..." Grant says. "I think it's a red tail that just banked."
"I think there are three red-tails all together," Eberly says. "I think there are five birds, all together.
"They're not being very cooperative with staying in my field of view," Grant says.
They scan, counting under their breath.
"OK. I'm getting three red-tails, a light Swainey, a dark Swainey and a broadwing," Eberly says.
"Agreed," says Grant.
And the kettle disperses.
Raptors are a sensitive, top-level predator that exists in a variety of ecosystems across the world. So their health as a population is a reflection on the health of the ecosystems they inhabit and regulate.
Jeff Smith, science director for Hawkwatch International, says these birds are a sort of barometer of the environment as a whole.
"If the raptors are not doing well, a variety of components in those ecosystems are not functioning properly," he says.
For example, if populations dip, it may indicate a larger change that is not immediately obvious, such as a change in habitat or prey. In the bigger picture, these small changes can eventually trickle down, affecting humans the same as wildlife.
To see those population fluctuations, someone must keep track of those numbers to start with.
Commissary Ridge is one of 16 migration sites in North America and Mexico, run by Hawkwatch International. The sites are used to collect data to maintain a long-term, large-scale database of raptor population numbers and trends.
The site was initially tested in 2000 as part of a broader attempt to find another site in the Northern Rockies. Another 25 sites were also tested across Wyoming and southern Montana, but because of its geographic location and accessibility, Commissary Ridge was the best bet.
"The general notion was to add a node within the Rocky Mountain flyway," says Smith.
The area is a sort of funnel for the birds. While migration patterns vary greatly, they will typically look for long north to south mountain ranges that serve as navigation aids. For some of the species, this also provides wind driven updrafts and thermals, which helps them save energy.
Other species, such as peregrine falcons and osprey, don't necessarily need these bubbles of air and can often zip right to their destination.
To count them, trained spotters sit on top of the ridge, all day, every day from the end of August to the end of October. They record each bird.
Some sites also trap and band birds, eventually giving researchers a more detailed account of where the birds go.
"In order to better understand what the counts are telling us, we need to better understand what populations we are monitoring at a given site," Smith says.
However, this has been a little bit of a challenge in Wyoming with the high winds.
"It messes with the nets and messes with the birds interest of coming down out of the wind to get something to eat," he says.
This year, Smith says counts are below average across the board. But to understand why, exactly, is a much harder task.
"It could be a variety of things," he says. "Widespread habitat change is going on all over the place."
To understand the bigger picture, long stretches of records must be kept. Smith says it takes about 25 years of data to start to understand trends. This is a hard pitch for many agencies and corporations.
"Long-term monitoring is notoriously difficult to sustain but incredibly valuable for the insight," he says.
Across the ridge is an entirely different world.
"It's like fishing the skies," says Joe Ragni, who runs the banding area at this site.
If the observation point is pure tranquility, then the trapping area is pure adrenaline.
The area is comprised of a blind and a series of nets. Pigeons and starlings are harnessed up in a leather outfit of sorts, and placed on a string, like a little bird marionette.
As raptors are spotted, the right type of prey must be used to get their attention. As a side-note, most prey subjects survive this research.
Raptors are worked up. Physical data is collected and each is fitted with a band and then released.
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Information from: Wyoming Tribune Eagle - Cheyenne, http://www.wyomingnews.com
