[wisb] A Ferruginous in our backyard, ridiculous!
- From: Paul Schwalbe <p.g6schwalbe@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: "Birdnet, Wis" <wisbirdn@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 25 Apr 2014 22:25:33 -0500
Dear Birders:
Tuesday, 24 Apr 14 we were finishing up our lunch, jumping out of her chair
and rushing to the kitchen window, Glenna said "What just dropped into the
yard, what is that?"
Paul, come here quick!.
I looked. Quick the cameras! (Yes, we keep our bins and cameras on the
kitchen table).
What we saw was very pale, and huge. We have had lots of Red-tailed Hawks
in our back yard (we have a small woodlot) but this bird was quite a bit
larger than any Red-tails we have seen. This bird was a light phase
juvenile Ferruginous Hawk (see photos).
We just couldn't get a good shot through all of the trees, but each of us
finally got one that shows some of the field marks. There was a gray
squirrel less than a yard away from the bird, that then jumped on a tree.
Was the hawk after the squirrel? Before it left, it seemed to pick
something off the ground but we never did see it eat anything.
The ID items were: Almost pure white feathered tarsus down to the toes,
with just a few dark flecks below the edge of the wing (see photos). The
under parts were white as far as we could see. No belly band as a
Rough-legged would have.
The bird then flew off and landed in a tree up the lake a ways. I grabbed
my camera and went down to the lake shore hoping to get some more photos.
When I got there, I could see the bird in a tree and was able to get a
couple of front view and back view shots. It then flew off away from me,
and I did get some flight pics, but they are not in good focus.
The front view shows completely white underparts, from the base of the
lower mandible down the breast, belly, and to the tail. The feathered
tarsus can be seen in the back views, and in the not so good flight shots,
extensive white streaked upper primary feathers, white base of the tail,
and a dusky/brown subterminal tail band are all visible.
Sorry I couldn't get this out sooner, I had trouble working with Flickr.
The bird was last seen flying north out of Pardeeville toward Montello, so
keep your eyes open Daryl.
Nine pictures can be seen at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/paul-w-schwalbe.
Click on the image # for text.
Good birding......................... Paul & Glenna
--
Paul & Glenna Schwalbe
Pardeeville, Columbia Co.
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