[wisb] Horicon 12/3

From: "Jym Mooney & Carol Lee Hopkins" <hopmoon@xxxxxxxxxx>
To: "Wisbirdn" <wisbirdn@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Thu, 3 Dec 2009 19:38:39 -0600
Went up to Horicon this afternoon in search of short-eared owls.  Got to
watch two on Dike Road, amazingly close, flying back and forth over the road
near the water gate.  I had been scanning the horizon for an hour, waiting
for something to fly differently than a harrier, when the first owl popped
up not 50 feet from where I stood.  There were at least 15 harriers around
Dike Road; I would occasionally get as many as 7-8 in a single scope view as
the sun went down.  Stunning!  Also had at least two rough-legged hawks in
the area, one light and one dark morph.  

The big surprise was what I believe was a golden eagle.  I was scanning
north of Dike Road, and spotted two large raptors perched in a lone bare
tree quite a ways off.  Both had their backs to me.  The upper bird (perched
higher in the tree) seemed a little larger than the lower bird.  At some
point the lower bird flew off when I wasn't looking, so I did not get to see
it fly.  It was dark, but appeared to have some white between the shoulders.
Even at that distance, they were obviously eagle-sized (later a rough-legged
hawk flew past, and the remaining eagle was clearly much larger).  I kept my
eye on the remaining bird for a long time.  It was all dark, with the back
of the head and neck a lighter brown.  It turned its head occasionally, so I
could see the bill, which appeared appropriately-sized in comparison to the
head (not large like a bald eagle).  When the eagle finally flew, it dropped
and flew low off over the marsh, heading to the west, deeper into the
refuge.  I was able to keep my scope on it for most of its flight.  I got a
look at the underside once or twice when it banked, and did not detect any
white or mottling below.  The tail and wings were all dark above.

On Ledge Road east of Z I came across a huge (maybe 500) flock of sandhill
cranes that literally stretched across one field, over the road, and into
the field on the other side of the road.

Jym Mooney, Milwaukee


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[wisb] Horicon 12/3

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