If you watch birds in Pennsylvania a glance at this one suggests it’s a red-tailed or rough-legged hawk.
Nope. It’s an upland buzzard (Buteo hemilasius), native to Central Asia.
Todd Katzner is on a field expedition in Mongolia and emailed me this picture yesterday, a sample of the stunning raptors he’s seeing there.
A lot of my scientist friends do field work in the summer, something I’ve never done. To get a sense of what their trips are like I’ve been reading Tingay & Katzner’s The Eagle Watchers.
Ghostly New Guinea harpy eagles, wary and comical Steller’s sea eagles.
The birds they see on field expeditions are out of this world.
(photo by Dr. Todd Katzner of the National Aviary)
The Steller’s sea eagle is possibly my favorite bird. I’ve sat and watched the pair at the aviary for hours. Whenever I’m there I’m not able to pass by their exhibit without stopping. What a treat to see them in the wild. I didn’t know they were mentioned in this book so maybe I’ll have to hunt down a copy now.
And on a side note…at first reading, once I got to the bit about it being an upland buzzard, but before reading on I was thinking this was going to be about one of these guys flying around western PA! Talk about out of this world!
Beautiful! I’d love to be in his shoes, just for a few hours, to see what he sees!!
He must have such amazing stories to tell – well, he does. He told us a few during the chats!!
Kate – Do you have any updates on the COL and Gulf Tower kids? How are Yellow Girl and White Girl doing? I see a lot of Hot Spots with Dori and Louie in/around the nest – shouldn’t they be giving their kids flying lessons, etc? Do you know why Dori keeps laying in the nest and rubbing around? Thanks for all your updates and information regarding these wonderful birds – I am so glad that someone told me about this site.
After the mosquito’s this is a wonderful being to see. I must get back over to the Aviary, have not been there for awhile. Want to get DR. Katzner’s book. You need to write a book also Kate. With all these bits and pieces you give us it would be exciting to have you sign books for us. Of course once they make the day 48 hrs. I guess you would be able to!!!!!!!!!!!!
Updates on White and Yellow: None. No news is good news.
The Eagle Watchers book and Peter’s comment that “I’ll have to hunt down a copy now”. Click on the name of the book in the blog above & you can buy it on Amazon. It’s also at Carnegie Library here –> http://tinyurl.com/28v8sal
Why are the adults at the nest now that their young have flown?
See this Peregrine FAQ:
http://www.birdsoutsidemywindow.org/peregrine-faqs/question-why-do-the-adults-visit-the-nest-after-the-babies-are-gone/
Thanks for the update and clairification as to why there have been so many visits by Dori and Louie to the next box. I thought she was doing the “scrape” and wondered if there might be more eggs this year (^+^).