Birds and Nature

(note click on 'Read More' below to see the other photos of this hawk)  I spotted this Harlan's Red-tailed Hawk today not far from the Arkansas River above a field right in town.  It was 150-200 feet away so had to crop severely to get these pics.  The significant amount of white on this hawk's face, the white on it's breast and mottling on tail are field marks for this northern sub species of Red-tailed Hawk. Some years we get a 5 or more Harlan's moving through or spending some of the winter.  This is the first one I have seen in the Canon City area this winter.  SeEtta

My area of Colorado is in the winter range of Harlan's Red-tailed Hawks and they often start migrating here in October from their very far north breeding grounds. I spotted this new arrival yesterday in Canon City and unfortunately it was pretty distant so the photos are not real sharp as I had to crop them severe and terribly back lit. This is a dark morph hawk with whitish tail, blackish belly, streaked white chest and white on face surrounding the eye. The white tail is I think best seen on bottom pic. But clicking on each pic to enlarge it further will make features easier to see. SeEtta

Yesterday I drove east of Pueblo looking for Harlan's Red-tailed Hawks and any other raptors I could find. I was rewarded for my efforts with a total of 3 Harlan's, 1 Merlin and 1 Prairie Falcon in addition to 7 Western Red-tailed Hawks. This is the first Harlan's I found which was in far eastern Pueblo County. It was very, very skittish so the closest I could get for pics was 400-500 feet which put my extended zoom to it's max. And it only perched on trees on private property away from the public road. In addition to the mostly black plumage speckled with a little white as seen on these Harlanii Red-tails, the white loral area on the face of this dark morph Harlan's can be seen in these pics. In the middle pic though it shows a reddish tail you can see it does not have the light scapulars so distinctive on the backs of perched Western Red-tailed Hawks. SeEtta

This is a late post as I actually spotted this Harlan's Red-tailed Hawk when I was watching the Sandhill Crane family in Canon City right before they took off to continue their migration This hawk was perched quite a distance away, about 400 feet away, so the perched photos have been severely cropped to see the field marks--black with a little white on breast and around forehead plus undertail. This hawk took off and apparently got on a thermal to rise high in the sky showing off a classic Harlan's underside pattern. SeEtta

I spotted this Harlan's Red-tailed Hawk today on the east side of Canon City. It was very shy flushed when it saw me photographing it from more than 250 feet away so photos are not the best--and it was 5:30 pm so light was low. With it's mostly white face, dark crown, brownish-black body, streaked white breast, blackish belly I believe this is a Light morph (or using Wheeler's scheme, a light intermediate morph) Harlan's Red-tailed Hawk. The tail is whitish above on the basal half with rufous on the outer half. The underside of tail looks like marble with rufous. SeEtta

. Yesterday I spotted what looked like a Harlan's Red-tailed Hawk perched in a tree in the Canon City area. It was one of the most skittish hawks I have photographed--I stayed in my car the entire time as I try very hard not to flush hawks but it still flushed when I took photos from several hundred feet away/ After I gave up looking for it I was driving back home when I ran into the same hawk again as it soared in large circles so I was able to get the photo at the top. I followed it in my car and it came down to perch for a short time so I got the bottom two pics. I believe this is an Intermediate morph Harlan's as described by Wheeler in Raptors of Western North America . It is very blackish, the auriculars are white and so is it's forehead, it has whitish streaks on it's throat, it's breast has streaks of white but more black, the rest of it's underparts are black with white speckling and smaller streaks, remiges are barred, tail is barred wit...

I spotted this light morph Harlan's Hawk in eastern Pueblo County, Colorado this afternoon and was able to get a few good flight photos using my Canon 60d dslr camera with 400mm, 5.6 lens. Distinctive are the white 'spectacles' and pale gray with blackish subterminal band Harlan's type tail. This one has moderately marked underparts with wide black band on rear edge of remiges along with black patagial marks. Though I have heard of Harlan's hawks being seen in northern parts of Colorado this month this is the first I have seen this fall/winter season. SeEtta

Three days ago (Oct 30) I spotted the hawk in the top pic at dusk. It is a dark morph Harlan's Hawk-it is all dark except for tail (only underside visible) that clearly has a light/grayish undertail (at least the distal portion visible in pic), with wingtips a little shorter than tail (a characteristic of Harlan's per Hawks of W. North America ). I suspect this is the dark morph Harlan's I have spotted a couple of times in Canon City in the past 2 weeks. Since I knew at least one Harlan's was still around, the next day I went looking for one and the bird in the bottom pic flushed from it's perch and began circling higher and higher so I barely got this one reasonable pic before it took off. There is a 'white swath' (description in Hawks of W. North America ) under it's eye visible when photo enlarged. White on neck not visible in this photo or in my brief views in the field (so could be an integrade?). This bird looks to me like a juvenile i...

I am pleased that I got the natural glint in this hawks eye in these two pics (no, I didn't use flash, this is natural). Though the top pic and those in the post below appear to show a dark morph Harlan's Red-tailed Hawk, the bottom pic clearly shows there is too much white on the bird's chest and head to be a dark morph (and why I wanted to get a frontal view of this bird). As dark as it is though I guess it fits into a category of 'dark intermediate' (per Raptors of Western North America by Brian Wheeler). This certainly illustrates the importance of seeing the front as well as side and back of these birds. SeEtta

In addition to the 2 Harlan's Hawks I posted below from Pueblo County, I also found a Harlan's Red-tailed Hawk in Otero County. Interestingly, Otero County is where more wintering Harlan's Hawks have been found. Many of it's features can be seen in the bottom pic that I got as it was just taking off from the light pole where I photographed it in the top pic. Though I try not to flush the birds, especially raptors, I photograph these Harlan's seem extra sensitive and I was the reason it flew from this light pole. I was able to get more photos as it flew and then landed not far away (though I stayed further back to avoid flushing it again). SeEtta

This is the second Harlan's Red-tailed Hawk that was I found perched not far from the dark morph Harlan's in the previous post. This one, unfortunately more distant so photos not as definitive (nor were my brief views in my spotting scope), is clearly not a dark morph but appears to be an intermediate morph. SeEtta

Yesterday I birded in Otero and eastern Pueblo Counties of Colorado. I returned to the location I found the dark morph Harlan's Red-tailed Hawk I posted here on October 15 and refound what seems most likely to be the same bird-same exact location, dark morph with similar markings. This time I was able to not only photograph it flying but also perched plus I got very good, albeit distant, views through my spotting scope. Interestingly I found a second Harlan's Red-tailed Hawk, a bird with different markings, about a half mile away from where this bird was flying and perching. This bird did not fly over to chase the other Harlan's off even though the second bird flew closer, about a quarter mile away. Interesting. Will post the other's photos next. SeEtta

I spotted this Harlan's Red-tailed Hawk today perched in a tree about 150 feet on the other side of an agricultural field. The one I found several days ago appeared to be a dark morph while this one is more an intermediate morph. Though it's possible that with that darker appearing hawk being high in the sky and back-lit it might have causing my view and photo to look darker on the darker parts of the hawk. Since these are pretty rare in my area it would seem more likely that it would be the same hawk. But I would think I could have seen some of the white on it's breast and underwing coverts if it was this hawk. Maybe the recent high winds have brought two Harlan's to Canon City. Though not close-up photos, these show some details of this hawk. It's head is brown/black with white streaks and with a white auricular area and throat. It's upper tail is reddish on the distal portion and whitish basally. Brian Wheeler, in Raptors of Western North America , st...

I was surprised to spot this Harlan's Red-tailed Hawk as I drove across the Raynold's bridge over the Arkansas River well into the town of Canon City. Though it was flying low to the ground when I spotted it, by the time I could safely pull over and get out to photograph it the bird had gained a lot of elevation in strong winds. It may have flown up quickly to meet a local Red-tailed Hawk, with feet hanging down, that I expect came to escort it out of it's territory. They circled each other high above for several minutes before going their separate ways. It is quite unusual to get a Harlan's Hawk here. SeEtta

Yesterday I drove east down the Arkansas River Valley in Colorado and spotted this Harlan's Hawk in eastern Pueblo County. The white on it's face is somewhat visible in the bottom pic as is a speckling of white on it's underparts.  This is the first one I have seen this fall as they return to winter in this valley. SeEtta

Though mostly coal black a few specks of whitish feathering was visible near the throat area of the bird. I did not seen any white on it's face or rufous in the tail but my view of it perched was brief and distant. The shyness of this bird was incredible not only because of how far I was from it but the fact I remained in my car to reduce disturbance. SeEtta

As I spotted this Harlan's Hawk this mid-day in Canon City perched in a cottonwood adjacent to the Arkansas River. Just as soon as I got my car in position and put my camera with long lens on it, it appeared took off (I was across the river a good 150 feet, but maybe responding to a long object pointed at it as it may have experienced if someone shot a rifle at it). I got a quick photo of it perched (and looking towards me) then taking off as shown here. It appears to be a dark morph Harlan's, mostly blackish with white or pale gray rectrices and wide blackish terminal band on tail. More photos to follow. SeEtta 

This is the 2nd Harlan's Hawk I photographed Sunday near Rocky Ford, Colorado. It is an intermediate morph with white on it's forehead (overlapping supercilium) and throat, white streaking on it's 'hindneck', dark crown, white streaks on breast and some white speckling on belly. The wings just shorter than tail when perched upright as shown in middle pic. The bottom pic is interesting as it shows a lot of white feathers that, similar to the apparent dark morph in the previous post, appear to be 'underfeathers' that are visible when the wind blows the top feathers up. I still haven't found any documentation on that. SeEtta iv>