Aside from waterfowl, Bald Eagles have been the dominant birds in Paul’s home region of south-central North Dakota. The advent of Snowy Owl season began with a bang, with two Snowys sighted in the area last week. The chocolate-colored female dark morph Rough-legged Hawk has been a repeat visitor to the area, and is featured in this week’s Bird Photography article.

Friday was such a beautiful sunny day that I broke away from the office early – noonish – and took an extended drive north about 60 miles – then 20 miles west with a southerly return along a different route. I was interested to see if a congregation of Snow Geese might still be in the area where I counted 13 flocks numbering in excess of 10,000 each a few weeks ago, but like the mega-flock in my area, they had all winged south except a small collection of about 30 toward the north end of my drive. Along the way, birds were pretty sparse, but I did see 3 Bald Eagles widely scattered across the plains, and the highlight was my second Snowy Owl of the week, (and the season), probably a female. Two Snowys - that’s pretty good for “Snowy Owl Week,” as proclaimed by the Owl Research Institute.

I also saw a Rough-legged Hawk hovering in the distance while checking out one of the Bald Eagles, but the long drive, although great fun, didn’t out-produce the birds that I sighted within the initial 6-mile stretch nearest home. There I had about 120 Snow Geese left on the deep lake, along with 3 Bald Eagles, but the local excitement was generated by a repeat performance of the chocolate-colored female Rough-legged Hawk hunting just 1½ miles north of my office. I’m sure this is the same dark morph Rough-leg I described in my report last week, the hawk I had a memorable photo session with the Saturday before. (By the way, that photo session is described and illustrated in the Bird Photography feature at the end of this week’s issue.)

Chocolate Hawk Insights

I managed a few fun photos of the chocolate-colored hawk as it hunted on the wing along the eastern edge of a long lake, mostly as it floated on updrafts of the west wind on the hilly side of the lakeshore, but hovering occasionally. Since photographing this relatively rare dark morph Rough-leg the previous Saturday, and the Sunday before that, I started putting 2 and 2 together after realizing this essentially marked bird has been hunting in the area for weeks, although I only see it every 5 or 6 days.

In addition to the hawk’s identifying color, it’s interesting to note that it hunts in a rather unique way: Rather than hovering in the characteristic Rough-leg way, she uses a floating technique by catching updrafts along 2 long lakeshores that are separated by a low hill. She floats almost motionless in the updraft, with a little tipping of a wing or tail to balance in what can be a pretty stout wind. She periodically moves along the lakeshore, gliding along the updrafts, then using the same floating technique when she reaches a promising location. Rarely do I see her hover, which of course requires a lot more wing-flapping energy.

Even though her style is impressive, I hadn’t seen her make many hunting strikes during my 3 long-term observations of the hunting hawk, which would add up to more than an hour total – maybe an hour and a quarter. But Friday I finally saw her catch and eat small rodent prey from a distance less than a mile from my office. I hope the chocolate-colored Rough-legged Hawk remains in the area longer; she is a trusting and interesting bird to monitor, and she has provided some memorable photographs – to be sure.

More Local Sightings

Last Monday I had a season high count of 9 Bald Eagles in the area, and I see 4 to 7 eagles other days. The eagles show the most interest in the few remaining geese, and I see them feeding on a Snow Goose periodically on lake ice, a grizzly sight for other geese no doubt.

A surprise first of season sighting Thursday was a Northern Shrike that took flight as I passed it Thursday, apparently to make a hunting strike at some unidentified sparrows that flushed into adjacent conifers.

Friday there appeared to be a bit of a migration stopover, indicated by a couple new late afternoon Pine Siskins that allowed me to approach within just a couple feet as I tried to fill feeders. Plus a rare Brown Creeper stopped by to work the bark of the ash tree adjacent to my feeding station at sunset.

Speaking of close encounters at the feeders, as I was pouring seeds onto my platform feeder yesterday I felt the light brush of the wing of a little Red-breasted Nuthatch as it landed a couple inches from my hand. It hesitated a moment as we exchanged glances and I continued to pour seeds, then it grabbed a sunflower seed and zoomed away.

Saturday I was glad to see a male Prairie Falcon fly to a high perch, another rare species in this area. And that’s what makes birding so special, isn’t it; finding a rare bird, searching for the next one; appreciating an opportunity to photograph a recent arrival, and keeping a pulse on nature as it transpires down the road and out the window. Birding provides a daily opportunity to explore, learn, appreciate, and enjoy the birds and other natural elements around us. Enjoy all you witness that provides feathered excitement.

Article and photographs by Paul Konrad

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