Winter Raptors 2014

January and February Wanderings Around the Skagit Flats near Edison, WA
Not a good photo, but this was Yvonne's fist Red-tailed Hawk sighting and I wanted to record it. Hey, there goes a Great Blue Heron. Common around here all year. Again, not a great photo of Yvonne's first, but it shows the unique shape of the Red-tailed Hawk's head. Scanning the fields as the last of the fog burns off, there seems to be something that isn't a clump of dirt... Perigrine Falcon. Feathers fluffed, sitting calmy, it looks like s/he is in the digestion phase after a meal. An immature Bald Eagle absorbs some sun above the Edison Liquor Store.
Just below, an adult does the same. Watching a pair of Bald Eagles next to a farmhouse, one decides to take flight in some late afternoon sunlight. Circling right by us to a new perch. The dark grey cloud background makes a nice scene. For a large bird, they seem to do fine on very thin branches. They have a delicate touch with those talons. A test shot to make sure my lens was calibrated. It more or less was. I guess I can't blame blurry photos on my gear... Red-tailed Hawk, from the Buteo class.
Snow Geese visiting from Siberia and the Arctic coastlines. This small flock got disturbed and I caught them as they rose over my shoulder. As they swoop more into the hazy sun, a high contrast image takes shape. Rough-legged Hawk leaves the Arctic for winter. The dark trailing wing edges and wrist area (carpal patch) give it away from below. The Sisters Range, with Mt. Baker obscured behind, gives my eyes a break from spotting raptors. A female immature Cooper's Hawk calmly waits in a shrubby tree. My first Accipter sighting. Worth anogther look. Immature: yellow eye, teardrop breast coloring. Female: size (females are larger than males).
A dark form Rough-legged Hawk, perhaps an immature. Not a very good photo, but you can just make out the feathers way down the leg, which gives this Buteo its name. A Bald Eagle frenzy at the edge of Samish Bay. Likely a kill has been made and everyone wants a piece (kleptoparasitism is standard procedure). 28 in this frame, but at least another dozen out of frame. A Great Blue Heron slowly stalks the fields. Not a raptor, but impressive nonetheless. A Northern Harrier works the side of the road, heading my way. I get a brief glance as the constant hunting resumes... A good view of the Red-tailed Hawk's namesake tail feathers on a breezy February afternoon.
A nice combination of Bald Eagle maturity: mature (>5 yrs) left, nearly mature (~4 yrs) center, and a very young bird right. Northern Harriers are very easy to spot: white rump patch, long tail, shallow V wing position, constant circulation at low altitude. It's not just raptors and fields to see in the Skagit Flats on a clear day. Mt. Baker and the Sisters Range blend together in winter white. A nearly mature Bald Eagle comes in. The tail feathers are in an interesting transition to adulthood. Amazing when an eagle soars right by with the sunlight in the perfect location. Same bird. Another frame highlighting the primary and secondary feathers on a wingspan as wide as I am tall.
Shooting through some tall grass, a Rough-legged hawk swoops down on a suspected meal... ...no luck this time. Another Red-tailed hawk spotting lunch on a cold february afternoon (one leg retracted into its down). A Rough-legged hawk watches the fields intensly. A popular Bald Eagle perch not far from Samish Bay -- and conveniently next to a road. A closer look reveals 28 bald eagles, many of them immatures.
The telephoto lens shows the details on two branches: 2 adults, 1 nearing maturity, and 4 immatures. Classic view of a Red-tailed hawk: dark head, white bib, indistinct belly band. The dark shoulder patches (patagium) help identify the Red-tailed hawk in the air. A banded Red-tailed Hawk. It looks like 5726 as best I can tell. I wouldn't want to be a mouse facing those talons... When a kill is made, it's a free-for-all. This is accepted Eagle social behavior: mine, mine, mine, mine... A familiar Rough-legged Hawk was pulling up on the grass clump for some time...
...but nothing was found. A great view of the "rough" leg feathers. Over seven feet of snow in the Cascades this week -- probably a lot more on top of 10,778-ft Mt. Baker. An immature Red-tailed Hawk steadies itself into a stiff wind to come in for a landing. The slow glide enable me to get this nice shot. Made it. The yellow eye and the lack of red tail feathers indicates this is a first year bird. Hops around on the wire, revealing that juvenile tail. An adult Trumpeter Swan, one of hundreds, transfers to another field.
About the best I can do with close-up detail with a 400mm lens and some heavy image cropping. The Eagle was about 35-ft away. A Red-tailed Hawk who must have eaten recently and didn't clean some blood off its beak. I've gotten to know this Rough-legged Hawk fairly well as s/he hunts in the same little area every day. Twp more Trumpeters cruise by me at through the low, later afternoon sun.