It's been an interesting raptor month!

[hazelrunmama]

A few days ago, we looked out front and saw a Cooper's hawk take a Mourning dove.  It sat on the carcass and ate for a long time, then fluffed up and went sort of comatose (it was a very cold morning and it had stuffed itself on fresh dove).  It didn't flush until I went out to fill the feeders at my regular time about an hour later.  Another hour after that, Brier found it again on our walk along the right-of-way and stole the remnants of its meal.  But being a good boy, Brier gave it to me when I asked and then moved along--so the hawk was restored of it's feasting.

The next day, we were on a ride and we saw a beautiful, very dark Rough-legged hawk soaring above a field not far from here.  It was gorgeous!  I've never seen one that dark!  The body was almost black, but the flight feathers and tail were white, except for the wingtips, a terminal band on the tail, and some of the flight-feather tips, which were all very dark.  I do have some very blurry pics, but not enough of a connection to post any right now...

And today, I looked out the kitchen window and there was an adult Northern shrike sitting on the chain link top-rail!  I should have been expecting it--we normally see a lot of shrikes in years when we have siskins (the shrikes seem to follow them around, much to the siskins' dismay), and we have been seeing a moderate number of siskins. 

Would love to get a decent picture of any of those...

[l2b]

Congrats. Coopers, rough-legged and the shrike, WOW! those are all great raptors. We have reports that an abundance of Snowy Owls are coming down from the North, so keep your eyes pealed, you will probably see them before we do here in PA.

[hazelrunmama]

I'm crossing my fingers for a snowy owl, l2b!  There have been a lot of sightings in WI already. 

I've seen the shrike and the rough-legged again since I posted, but the Cooper's is hunting elsewhere right now.  I'll know when he comes back because all the doves go into hiding...  There's a bald eagle that's been flying over the house, too--I think I keep seeing the same one--maybe a third year, just beginning to show the white tail and head, but still looking a little mottled. 

[l2b]

"I'm crossing my fingers for a snowy owl"

There have been a lot of sightings in WI already.

I've seen the shrike and the rough-legged again since I posted, but the Cooper's is hunting elsewhere right now.  I'll know when he comes back because all the doves go into hiding...  There's a bald eagle that's been flying over the house, too--I think I keep seeing the same one--maybe a third year, just beginning to show the white tail and head, but still looking a little mottled."

There have also been reports of Merlin, (Pigeon Hawk), coming down from the North.Please let me know if you see a snowy or a merlin.Best of Luck,A.J. from Pa.

[l2b]

Wished I could erase those signs.

[downylover]

I made a bit of a mess of your post. Its something with the quoting. I'm sorry, I'm not sure why its happening.

[hazelrunmama]

We had an adult Bald eagle do a fly-over a couple days ago and the Northern goshawk put in an appearance!  I can't remember a year when we've had so many raptors in the area.  The large dove flock probably explains the goshawk and the Cooper's--I've see as many as 52 doves at once out front, which is a pretty high count for a wooded area.  It appears to be an irruptive year for winter finches--we're seeing a lot of redpolls and a fair number of siskins in with our goldfinches and Purple finches--and I suspect that's what's keeping the shrike in the area. 

Still no decent pics of the raptors, but I think I may have captured some redpolls.  Of course, being a year behind in my image editing, it'll be oodles of time before I have any in a sharable format!  LOL