(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . The Daily Bucket. FOS* Northern Harrier. New species Swainson's Hawk. Red-tailed hawk chows down. [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2024-09-20 *First-of-season ***** The Daily Bucket is a nature refuge. We amicably discuss animals, weather, climate, soil, plants, waters and note life’s patterns. We invite you to note what you are seeing around you in your own part of the world, and to share your observations in the comments below. Each note is a record that we can refer to in the future as we try to understand the phenological patterns that are quietly unwinding around us. To have the Daily Bucket in your Activity Stream, visit Backyard Science’s profile page and click on Follow. ***** Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024. American Valley, Quincy, CA. Well, crumb-bum, I go downstairs at about 8:30 a.m. and my bicycle rear tire is flat. I’ve got “Slime” tubes in the tires, but it doesn’t always work. So I grabbed my little electrical pump and aired it up and checked the tire and couldn’t see any Slime leaking out. Hours later the tire was still holding. Just so you all know I also carry a hand pump just in case the tire goes flat while I’m riding. If I have to use the hand pump it’s sufficient to get me back home in most cases. Well, that’s how my outing started. The morning improved greatly from there. I pedaled on over to the gate for my walking path and as soon as I was across the little creek I could see a few hawks flying and also perched. But I’ll start with the first-of-season Northern Harrier. I got these photos near the end of the walk, close to my turnaround point. Oh, that white rump patch so stands out. I knew at first glance of the rump that I had a Northern Harrier, juvenile. For some reason the adults don’t come into American Valley, and the juveniles only during the fall and winter. Or at least I’ve never seen an adult Northern Harrier here. Well, no matter. The low-flying/hunting flight behavior is also characteristic for this species. I really enjoy watching this raptor on the wing. Swooping around in a turn the bird gives me a nice chance to catch its tail spread. ***** Update 6:55 a.m. Our best expert (I’m biased, I know him personally) 2n10 has just corrected me that my “dark morph Red-tailed Hawk” is actually a Swainson’s Hawk. (See down below in comment thread.) This was a great surprise as this species is most definitely not a common visitor to American Valley, and is “rare”, normally appearing in much lower elevation “foothill” grasslands. The elevation of Quincy, CA, is 3,419 feet above sea level, considered “lower conifer” elevation zone. It is unquestionably the first time I’ve seen one here. I’ll be checking eBird for any other sightings. Here’s the dark morph Red-tailed Hawk. Nearly looks like some other species. This is such a difference from what I normally see around here for the RTHAs. But gorgeous, yes? New species for me, #176 for my life list, Swainson’s Hawk. I took about a dozen shots with my camera propped on a fence post; the bird was about 130 yards distance, heat shimmer bodges up sharp focus. I had put my tripod in my backpack then of course spaced it out and left the backpack behind. After my turnaround at the end of the path and coming back to the entrance from where I got the above photo when beginning my walk the bird was still on the same fence line but had changed posts. Now from the back it is unmistakable as a Red-tailed, as you can see from the tail stripe pattern. Note how the extended primary wings reach to nearly the end of the tail. This is also a distinguishing characteristic of this species. Here’s a side-by-side comparison of an ordinary RTHA from this morning along with the Swainson’s Hawk. Amazing that these are the exact same species. Perhaps I can be pardoned for my amateur misidentification. ***** In the middle of the walk I caught this sequence with yet another Red-tailed Hawk. As I was looking out over the field I saw some birds out on the ground, about fifty yards out. It was the crows (or Raven) and the Great Blue Heron, and something on the ground had their mutual attention. As I poised my camera the RTHA flew in and dive bombed the act. I’m pretty sure the Heron had the gopher to begin with. The RTHA feeding sequence began with the steal. It flew off to this nearby perch in the cattle field to consume its purloined prey. Probably a gopher. With that in the camera I walked on, completed my jaunt, and came on back home. A fine morning. Now it’s your turn. What’s been happening in your world, nature and season? Please share in the comments. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/9/20/2271536/-The-Daily-Bucket-FOS-Northern-Harrier-dark-morph-Red-tailed-Hawk-Other-RTHA-chows-down?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/