To all those who came out:
What a Great trip, lots of Red-tailed Hawks, Northern Harriers, American Kestrels, a great look at and Adult Sharp-shinned Hawk, a few White-tailed Kites, four Golden Eagles, three burrowing Owls
And a great group of folks, lots of thanks to Tom, Susana. Shelly, Pam for Co-leading and helping folks see the raptors and helping them learn what hey were seeing, truly a great team effort.
(all photos copyright to original photographers/organizations, use here for non profit and educational purposes only, most photos here shown from WCHW photo pool and not of actual birds from the day, rather just references to help those learning, what we saw and how to tell what they are)
lots of Read-tailed Hawks both Juvenile and Adult birds (photos and info below)
Adult Red-tailed Hawk, Buteo form (large soaring hawk) overall brown and tan wth brick red tail, tan feathers on back form a "V" known as Scapular V.Adult Red-tailed Hawk
Juvenile Red-tailed hawk, dark hood, dark belly band, dark patagials (leading edge of wing near body) Also here you can see where the tail differs for an adult. over all light brown aka tan, with fine brown or dark bars on that tail, easy to tell Juvenile from Adult Red-tailed Hawk because of the tail baring.
Juvenile Red-tailed Hawk, great view of tail markings, to compare to an Adult bird, also note the Scapular V seen on both adult and juveniles.
Juvenile Red-tailed hawk, dark patagials, dark hood, strong belly band, finely barred tail, buteo form.
Adult Red-tailed Hawk, dark hood, dark patagials, brick red tail, faint belly band, buteo form.
RTHA (red-tailed hawk) slide
(below) Right as the tour began we saw some movement of sparrows and western blue birds off to the east of us, we stopped and waited to see what it was that was flushing them, and a few seconds later saw a bright orange Sharp-shined Hawk (Adult) flying over our heads, much like in the photo below showed the orange barring in the chest and belly, the dark nape and the sooty black bars on the grey tail.
Sharp-shinned Hawk - Genius Accipiter (small woodland Hawk)
Sharp-shinned hawk in a glide showing its squared off tail, dark nape on the neck, red eye and head barely extend past the wrists, making it look "wristy"
Here a Coopers Hawk on the left and the Sharp-shinned Hawk on the right, showing the difference in head location. Coopers forms a "cross' and Sharp-shinned forma capital "T" also notice SSHA has a nice squared off tail and a COHA has a somewhat rounded tail effect.
(often Coops and Sharps are confused in the ID process)
Sharp-shinned Hawk = SSHA, Coopers Hawk = COHA
Here a younger SSHA shows a nice squared off tail, and the full on "wristy" look in a glide.
Northern Harrier slide
Adult Female, tan and brown, yellow eye, owl like facial disk, wings held at a V, aka swallow Dihedral, long tail, pointy wings.... Adult Female Northern Harrier.
Adult Male, yellow eye, owl like facial disk, wings held at a slight V, aka swallow Dihedral, long tail, pointy wings, dorsal view presents a white rump patch, bird is grey on top and white-ish underneath, with black wing tips and linings .... Adult Male Northern Harrier.
Young birds have a cinnamon, aka pumpkin wash to them.. over all a orange-ish underside on body and underwing linings, with very unique with barring "checker board" type patterns.
Young bird, dark eye, cinnamon wash, good dihedral and owl like facial disk
(Above) Adult Male, Grey, off white, black, wings at a dihedral, yellow eye.
(Photos below) of White-tailed Kite.... first seen at the parking lot, then again another along the trial and two more seen at the reservoir..
White-tailed Kite, overall white, with gray wings and back with black shoulders and namesake white tail. True Kite form but also the long tail and pointy wings, somewhat similar to a "falcon" form.
Hovers over open areas in search of mice, snakes, and other prey.
Perches atop tall vegetation in open landscapes including coastal plains and agricultural areas. Much like we saw the two perched in the tree at the marsh.
Burrowing Owls, [below] very lucky to see three burrowing owls along west of the reservoir, lots of movement and a few flights, at least three different birds in different areas but one general region, very exciting. Spent a lot of time making sure each guest had a chance to view one...
true to its name in a burrow.
a few of the views we had were like this, but at great distance
Here we see a Golden Eagle looking into a burrow, we did not see this but this type of activity plays out daily in the Lynch Canyon Open Space.
Always on the look out, from the safety of their burrows.
Golden Eagle, (below) great looks at Golden Eagles all day, 6 sightings though-out the day, with at least 3 confirmed individuals, possibly 4.
Sub adult above, based on white tail base, and some white still at the base of the primaries (feathers near the tips of the wings)
Adult Golden Eagle at Lynch Canyon from previous trip
Golden Eagle on our logo
Adult Golden Eagle (above)
Young Golden Eagle (above)
Juvenile Golden Eagle (above)
Tail of adult on the left and sub adult on the right
Gold Eagle left to right, Juvenile, Sub-adult, Adult. (Above)
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