On my way to work this morning, I managed to see a bunch of raptors near this farm by our local state correctional institute, Rockview State Prison. I even got pics:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipwXeCeapAeSYOPwUfWD6NPxPGot4Qo2mmrUfsr65QA8AK0SAaQK1yZpnDqsBJn5lt_b7ZCWTU2VA6YpTAGJbm4G61UjJZddsUT4C5J_Djgw3Ewodyvvn8uh3u_CJM3N7nHlHI/s400/Rough-legged+Hawk+2.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEher2IHESjHvwWZ-HMxeRton5UD113AXHyUHIfw0KZAg7kAj1pQWMiM7TOjzFASuZndj0r8JQRHXG4o_w-hMO2kW3VnVQUn12iPFbpKay5Zs2NtlTWfw-llTn6t7kOSE5dxktiK/s400/Rough-legged+Hawk.jpg)
Am I correct in saying that this is a Rough-legged Hawk? I'm amazed by how tiny his beak is.
I also caught the bird in flight:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimrJ4NGHqYCrnqvOKOS3Z_teZaRTvjN4iO-JoHTAOZyslXugNx1eeqaiRw99y2NbBdi6m0w5sMxEXAYJVuortuueb5CAIPC3-D8cLWJ62xFmntvqgEAH24O6KrCI_Kpv4aYASr/s400/Rough-legged+Hawk+in+flight.jpg)
This hawk was unlike any I'd ever seen. I first thought it was a dark-morph Red-tailed, but it didn't have a red tail! I pulled over as best I could to get these photos, and luckily there was a bit of scrubby hillside to hide behind while I shot. Hawks are so twitchy; usually I pull my car over and by the time I grab the camera, the hawk has seen me and flown the coop. Today, I had a little better luck.
I also could've sworn I saw a Golden Eagle, but this is the only shot I got, and it's probably just a Rough-legged:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivR1026T5R6b-ftV_Nee3wm4Oo5bbfrcPpEpPVcpThjOefBydLWA_vA581TtpmlHxIGiZY7wZpZHXBh-5DhaQwadS3kMKexY_0vw3_8fmpH-__jKlV7aMLtKoqA2NnaLcmRidV/s400/Golden+1.jpg)
I know it's awful, but here's the thing: I saw those little "windows" (like you get with a juvenile Golden) on the wings, both from below and above, and you can see there's clearly a white patch on the right wing of this bird. It also has the up-turned wingtips of a Golden, and the white stripe on the tail. He had a lighter brown on his nape, but also on the front of his neck too, and the wings are in more of a dihedral than my guide shows they should be for a Golden. Still....
This bird also did something that I thought only American Kestrels could do: it hovered in a fixed position in the air. It would hover for a few seconds, flap a bit and drop closer to the ground, then hover again, then flap and drop a bit again. It did it for probably a total of ten seconds. It was amazing! Of course, I was so busy being amazed that I didn't take pictures of that.
So all you raptor experts out there, please tell me - is there any way I saw a Golden Eagle this morning?
UPDATE: I'm told that hovering is a Rough-legged specialty, and that I most certainly saw and photographed a Rough-legged here. That's okay -- still a lifer!
Meanwhile, back to the Rough-leggeds. I also saw this bird:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW-gb3cRWmjGUQnQ0gODTfvJ3jEcwbVDc46Rd1wn2IYwF-Wwg9yVRMdW570u937Ex5OW37s-ztd0Pi6gEzQ4ZUIX3AjMvFyL23sgR2d7Amly36XIx0_QXfSSpZpUAjL2cGFpRW/s400/crazy+neck.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAyIYGSyKWtrRyyXmVfJjNoPdJnnCpK4PWZ_UHr8LlCxTO5_kCgaC8R-mXoGMBRjo1X2A0NQwt_Rl0Zbu_pXXi9MldEkAUH1lHHW-yZR9BjQZapxFtE4PdpvNgSlmpd0Ez7lxJ/s400/crazy+neck+in+flight.jpg)
I'm assuming this is a Rough-legged too, but it's obviously a different bird from the first one I showed you. Note the crazy neck/breast coloring, and the dark patches on the undersides of the wings in the flight photo. He looks like he's wearing a scarf.
One more raptor:
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBgsOHqiGommaYS378oH2gNY-97fpyNupr-6QisXAM0aiJ2qkbWDj5-UO3dRh72CjZ1EME8ZdPPaB2I3WwDQDn8P1_HuSB-YEHKrVaXsNRzWozS_O-Rv-uFIHHorJHKqmQTifh/s400/RTHA+or+RLHA.jpg)
I was looking at this one and thinking "Red-tailed belly band but look at that reddish streaking and how dark he is--rough-leg?," and just then he lifted himself into the air and flashed a Ron-Weasley-red tail, of which I (sadly) did not get a photo. I just never get tired of Red-taileds.
My bff Gretchen, who moved back to town Saturday -- YAY! -- and Laura and I went to try to see some Rough-leggeds and a Short-eared Owl that are supposed to be appearing almost nightly down by Huntingdon yesterday, but we only saw a young Northern Harrier hunting the grassy fields. No owl. I'm glad I ended up getting a Rough-legged though, for lifer number 289!