Gray Ghost

By Cory Ritter

With their clean white underparts and gray upper side, the adult male Northern Harrier makes for a stunning raptor. These birds are certainly crowd pleasers.

Take a look at this adult male Northern Harrier that was caught by Frank Nicoletti at Hawk Ridge's main banding station in late September. Hawk Ridge naturalist, Margie, is displaying this bird for the public.

Adult male Northern Harrier, 9/24/2012, Hawk Ridge, Duluth, MN

Adult male Northern Harrier, 9/24/2012, Hawk Ridge, Duluth, MN 

Adult male Northern Harrier, 9/24/2012, Hawk Ridge, Duluth, MN

Adult male Northern Harrier, 9/24/2012, Hawk Ridge, Duluth, MN

Here are some photos of an adult male Northern Harrier in flight that I took while counting hawks at Whitefish Point Bird Observatory this spring.

adult male Northern Harrier, 5/27/2012, Whitefish Point Bird Observatory, Paradise, MI

adult male Northern Harrier, 5/27/2012, Whitefish Point Bird Observatory, Paradise, MI

This is what I like to call the 'directing traffic' pose of the adult male Northern Harrier

adult male Northern Harrier, 5/27/2012, Whitefish Point Bird Observatory, Paradise, MI

adult male Northern Harrier, 5/27/2012, Whitefish Point Bird Observatory, Paradise, MI

Early Season Raptors

By Cory Ritter

Early to mid-September can produce some decent flights--and not just big broadwing days. Take a look at a short collection of some birds that came by Hawk Ridge in the middle of September.

Immature Sharp-shinned Hawk, 9/11/2012, Duluth, MN

Immature Northern Harrier, 9/11/2012, Duluth, MN

Immature Northern Harrier, 9/11/2012, Duluth, MN (same individual as above)

Immature Sharp-shinned Hawk, 9/13/2012, Duluth, MN

Male American Kestrel, 9/11/2012, Duluth, MN

Male American Kestrel, 9/11/2012, Duluth, MN (same individual as above) 

Adult Bald Eagle, 9/15/2012, Duluth, MN

Red-shouldered Hawk Indeed: Gawk at this Hawk

Three days ago we had a post about one of the two Red-shouldered Hawks we caught this past week.  The second hawk, to us banding amateurs with little hand-hawk experience, looked odd especially compared to the first bird we caught (read first RSHA post).  It had features that reminded us easterners of Broad-winged Hawk.  Look at the photos here and see what we mean.  Turns out, after running it by the hawk banders at Golden Gate Raptor Observatory, the bird is definitely within the normal range of variation seen in the California Race of Red-shouldered Hawk, Buteo lineatus elegans.  Here are some photos taken by Dan Lipp of the overzealous Frenchie holding this beautiful SY RSHA.  

This photo shows the pale grayish brown eye that is typical of a young Red-shouldered Hawk.

An adult California Red-shouldered Hawk would show a nearly solid orange breast with an orange belly with white barring. The brownish barring on this SY RSHA is very reminiscent of a Broad-winged Hawk, and it has a much smaller, streaky bib than our previous SY RSHA. However, this RSHA's plumage is within the normal variation one could expect to see within the California subspecies.

Here you can see the tail with fewer, thicker bands than our first Red-shouldered Hawk, but the California subspecies immature can show a more adult-like tail than the eastern subspecies. 

By Luke Musher and Cory Ritter

Birds in Hand: A Couple of Recent Favorites

I want to share with you all my two favorite birds caught in the last week! 

First is the Black Phoebe. This is a species that we see at Palomarin every single day, but this is the first time I have seen one in the hand.  So, when I heard over the radio that French was bringing a Black Phoebe to the banding station, I was pretty excited and here is what I got to see.

Black Phoebe, a good photo to compare against the Eastern Phoebe in previous posts [Photo by Cory Ritter]

The other highlight was this second year, male Sharp-shinned Hawk.  I saw a lot of these at Hawk Ridge this fall, but it is a nice treat for Palomarin.  Also, a majority of sharpies caught are hatch year males, so it was nice to have a second year bird in the hand!

Luke attempting to make this SSHA look at the camera [Photo by Cory Ritter]

Here is a good look at the orange/red iris of a male second year Sharp-shinned Hawk [Photo by Cory Ritter]

Note the dark cap and nape, and the rufous (horizontal) barring on this second year SSHA, as well as the orange/red iris as seen before [Photo by Cory Ritter]

Here you can see the blue back and upperwing coverts on this second year Sharp-shinned Hawk [Photo by Cory Ritter]

Another look at the orange/red iris, rufous barring on the chest, and overall 'buggy-eyed,' or large eye-size to head-size ratio, appearance of the Sharp-shinned Hawk [Photo by Cory Ritter]

That's all for now, but check back soon for more updates!

By Cory Ritter