[obol] Benton Co. Northern Goshawk, 26 March
- From: "Karan Fairchild" <alderspr@xxxxxxxx>
- To: "'Midvalley Birding'" <birding@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, "Oregon Birds Online" <obol@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 26 Mar 2015 13:43:48 -0700
Yesterday our Band-tailed Pigeon flock had doubled in a day to about 40
birds. They love cracked corn.
Today while we ate lunch outside, Karan spotted a red-tailed sized hawk
perched in a tall fir upslope of our meadow. I took it to be our local
resident red-tail, though its face and chest appeared very light throughout.
I was left to watch it while she grabbed our binoculars, but it took flight
before we could get the optics on it.
Scattered Steller's Jays made a few hasty alarm calls as soon as the bird
left its perch, then went silent. After just a few wingbeats, the hawk
went into a stoop, passing well overhead and against the sun. The sun shown
through the outer tail feather edges, making them look white, but not as
white as the extensive undertail 'gauze' of an adult NORTHERN GOSHAWK. The
stoop continued into some streamside alders, flushing at least a dozen
band-tails. We couldn't see the results of the commotion. I patrolled the
area watching for drifting feathers: no luck.
Maybe it will be, or is, nesting nearby. Bushels of cracked corn has some
advantage, for us anyway. No guarantee for visitors, but we'll post any
more sightings and we'll happily let visitors take their chances. We've
found a few pigeon feather piles this year already.
Jim and Karan Fairchild
Alder Spring (see eBird)
6 mi SW Philomath, Benton County
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