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A male Northern Harrier passes close by - it is always a treat to see one of these handsome raptors.
We seem to have a bumper crop of Northern harriers at Cherry Creek this season. This is a juvenile male. When he's adult he'll no longer have that brown on his head and back. He's hunting very near the main road.
Gray ghost surprise!!
It's always good to wash your fruit in the morning. You may ask...."But why?".....The answer...because it means you're facing your big sliding glass doors and might spot something wonderful out in the open space behind your house. That's exactly what happened. I saw a hawk come swooping in and land right behind my fence. I assumed it was our resident red-tailed hawk.....but when I went over to look...it was flying away from me and I could see it had a white patch on top of it's tail which could only mean a Northern Harrier. However, what I didn't expect was that it was a MALE harrier or as many call it a Grey ghost!!! We have never seen a male harrier hunting behind our house. I made some inaudible sounds with my excitement.....grabbed my camera and bolted out of the back door. I really didn't expect it to hang around very long, and it didn't. It flew out of sight, but then back in sight, and then repeated this numerous times. Finally he started making some circles and made a few passes right in front of me. He also managed to fly with some very nice fall colors behind him in the distance. I will have a few more to share, but here are some of my favorites.
Nikon Z9 with Nikkor 180-600mm F5.6-6.3 lens at 600mm, 1/1600sec, F8, various ISO's from 360 to 720, handheld and cropped. (Please view images large for best details) Nov 16 2024 Northern Colorado
Northern Harrier of Mercer
The Northern Harrier (Circus cyaneus) also known as the Hen Harrier is a bird of prey. It breeds throughout the northern parts of the northern hemisphere in Canada and the northernmost USA, and in northern Eurasia. This species is polytypic, with two subspecies. Marsh Hawk is a historical name for the American form.
It migrates to more southerly areas in winter. Eurasian birds move to southern Europe and southern temperate Asia, and American breeders to the southernmost USA, Mexico, and Central America. In the mildest regions, such as France, Great Britain, and the southern US, Northern Harrier may be present all year, but the higher ground is largely deserted in winter.
Harriers have an owl-like face. The concave facial disk and relatively large off-set ears enable the bird to use triangulation of sound to help locate prey such as mice, voles, juvenile rabbits, frogs, pheasant chick, and other birds in dense vegetation. The female Harrier is larger than the male; hence, the female takes larger prey than the male.
For more info: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hen_harrier
This is a male northern harrier, hunting at Cherry Creek State Park, Colorado, near Jordan Road and the main road.
View in Original size: www.flickr.com/photos/nsxbirder/51481100284/sizes/o/
NORTHERN HARRIER at FERNALD PRESERVE-01158661-
I think in my short birding career I'd seen a male Northern Harrier once. Just one time ever. Then this past Fall at Point Reyes, my luck changed and I saw them several times - resting, soaring, and nice low surprise flybys like this one. They do seem to come out of nowhere - this guy popped up from behind the hillside along the trail I was hiking.
From Cornell: "The Northern Harrier is distinctive from a long distance away: a slim, long-tailed hawk gliding low over a marsh or grassland, holding its wings in a V-shape and sporting a white patch at the base of its tail. Up close it has an owlish face that helps it hear mice and voles beneath the vegetation. Each gray-and-white male may mate with several females, which are larger and brown. These unusual raptors have a broad distribution across North America."
"Northern Harriers are the most owl-like of hawks (though they’re not related to owls). They rely on hearing as well as vision to capture prey. The disk-shaped face looks and functions much like an owl’s, with stiff facial feathers helping to direct sound to the ears."
We call the male Northern harrier the "grey ghost" because we see him so seldom versus the females of the species. This is at Cherry Creek State Park, near Cottonwood Creek and Jordan Road.
Gray ghost surprise!!
It's always good to wash your fruit in the morning. You may ask...."But why?".....The answer...because it means you're facing your big sliding glass doors and might spot something wonderful out in the open space behind your house. That's exactly what happened. I saw a hawk come swooping in and land right behind my fence. I assumed it was our resident red-tailed hawk.....but when I went over to look...it was flying away from me and I could see it had a white patch on top of it's tail which could only mean a Northern Harrier. However, what I didn't expect was that it was a MALE harrier or as many call it a Grey ghost!!! We have never seen a male harrier hunting behind our house. I made some inaudible sounds with my excitement.....grabbed my camera and bolted out of the back door. I really didn't expect it to hang around very long, and it didn't. It flew out of sight, but then back in sight, and then repeated this numerous times. Finally he started making some circles and made a few passes right in front of me. He also managed to fly with some very nice fall colors behind him in the distance. I will have a few more to share, but here are some of my favorites.
Nikon Z9 with Nikkor 180-600mm F5.6-6.3 lens at 600mm, 1/1600sec, F8, various ISO's from 360 to 720, handheld and cropped. (Please view images large for best details) Nov 16 2024 Northern Colorado
The male N.Harriers were not visable in the morning at Blackwater. But in the late afternoon, three started patrolling the fields. They are very difficult to get close to. They definately avoid human contact and always seem to veer away.
Male northern harrier aka a gray ghost, makes its way slowly across the grass at Point Reyes looking for an unaware vole.
Not long before I spotted the juvenile Northern Harrier, I saw this adult male hunting through the brush at the shore's edge. Adult male Northern Harriers are instantly recognizable with their overall gray colouring and black wingtips -- and are often called 'gray ghosts.'
Northern Harrier (m) was taken before sunset at Point Reyes National Seashore, CA
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KCS 2022 shoves a set of autorack to the small autoport in Cottage Grove. Usually there's a single unit that is based out of here, working said autoport and the 3M plant just to the east, and just happens to be KCS 2022 recently
This grey ghost gave me a quick glance as he was hunting the fields for food. Thanks for looking!
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