[birding] Rough-legs / Merlins / eagles /other

[Steve Seibel]

I saw a dark-morph Rough-legged hawk at the Prairie overlook at Finley today
(3-14), it was beautiful to watch the very deep hovering wingbeats
characteristic of the very light-wind conditions.  At McFadden marsh I saw a
juv Bald eagle make a low pass over the waterfowl (also passing very near an
Egret flying the opposite direction with a worried look on its face.)   As I
drove back north along 99W a Merlin was flying low and fast parallel to the
highway-- I slowed down and matched its speed for about 10 seconds, it
seemed to be flying about 40 mph, with virtually no wind.  I saw two adult
Bald eagles between Finley and Corvallis.  And a Turkey Vulture, a
Sharp-shinned hawk, and several Red-tailed hawks and Harriers...

I'll be keeping closer notes to get an idea when the Rough-legged hawks have
all left this season...

On Sun, Mar 14, 2010 at 9:29 AM, Steve Seibel <sseibel999 at gmail.com> wrote:

> It would be interesting to watch for an earlier-than-usual "last" date for
> wintering Rough-legged hawks in the Willamette Valley this year.  I can't
> remember when I've seen one last -- or what a typical "last" date would be.
> I'll keep notes for the rest of the season if I see any more....the last one
> I actually jotted down was Feb 16 but I'm sure I've seen one later than
> that, I'll check the Prairie Overlook at Finley later today...  Steve Seibel
>
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