White-winged Scoters
Red-tailed Hawk (click to see the larger version)
A juvenile Red-tailed Hawk was hanging around the meadow this morning. Red-tailed Hawks are unusual at Montrose at any time. Other than the hawk I saw nothing else of note, and it still feels like winter. Spring is out there somewhere.
Red-tailed Hawk
A Red-tailed Hawk has been hanging around Montrose for the past couple days. Both times that I’ve seen the bird its crop has been full, so obviously it hasn’t had trouble finding food, which isn’t surprising considering all the chipmunks, squirrels, and rabbits that call Montrose home. A winged Tyrannosaurus rex indeed.
Snow Bunting
I had a brief look at a Northern Shrike at Montrose this morning. Northern Shrikes are rare anytime at Montrose so this was a nice surprise. There were also good numbers of typical October birds, including Ruby-crowned Kinglets and Hermit Thrushes.
The most dramatic sighting of the morning was a Red-tailed Hawk being mercilessly harassed and pursued by a group of American Crows. The group name for American Crow is “murder of crows”, and watching this spectacle I can see how this name originated.
I went back out later in the day and found a Snow Bunting on Montrose Beach. Snow Buntings are songbirds that nest in the high arctic all around the world and winter in mid-latitudes. This bird hopped up on a fence post and posed very obligingly for me.