If you've been following my posts of late, you know that twice recently (1/8 and 1/15) I've seen what I thought was a Northern Harrier but failing to observe the necessary field marks, I couldn't "claim" either sighting.
Well yesterday that all changed when en route to Canoe Creek to join others on a short hiking expedition organized by the Juniata Valley Audubon. I was no more than two miles from home when I saw a large bird in the sky above a large pasture. At an altitude of a country silo, this bird was flapping long wings, seeming to "hang" in the air. The flapping looked tedious, almost like the bird was in some kind of trouble. I stared and stared driving down the road, closer and closer to the spectacle off to my right. What is wrong with that bird, I thought.
I slowed my car and took a good long look at this bird--a female Northern Harrier. As if posing just for me, she hung there in the air for a couple more seconds then commenced a forward flight--one that amply displayed her white rump and black tipped wings!
Bingo!
My last two possible sightings were of male harriers because they were pale all over, making the white rump less noticeable. But here was a dark female, her white rump contrasting nicely with her dark brown plumage. The photograph above (copyrighted by Walter Siegmund (C) 2006 and used with permission*) beautifully captures this graceful raptor, who has a facial disk, much like that of an owl.
Seeing this raptor's odd "in air" behavior, I recalled reading that harriers will sometimes "hover" over a field when spying their prey, mostly small rodents. So this lucky day, not only did I see one of my local, elusive harriers but she performed for me as well! You can't beat that!
So till next time . . . Keep birds in your heart!
Georgia Anne
*Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License . . .
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