One Last Dance

The last dance of the 22/23 Winter Raptor Survey Season took place this past Friday. Not everyone attended, but there were a few who got out. 

Thankfully, the contingent from Penny Lake Road never fails us. This year there was a Red-tailed Hawk decked out in beautiful rufous colors and a subadult Bald Eagle strutting his stuff as he glided through the sky overhead.

Penny Lake was still frozen, but some of the marshy areas attached to it were beginning to thaw at the edges. A small variety of water fowl are returning.

As we ventured south into Mansfield, a couple more Red-tailed Hawks joined the group. At the very beginning of the season, the Merlin who resides in the town of Mansfield was in attendance, showing off all his fancy footwork. But he did not show for this last dance.

Along the way, we saw what appeared to be an avian duplex! We wondered how they liked living so closely together.

Another favorite place on this route is the road going south from Mansfield to North Jameson Lake. We spotted a pair of American Kestrels, sitting on the sidelines. However, the Gyrfalcon who appeared early in the season decided to stay away.

At the very beginning of the season, thirty one members of the Rough-legged Hawk family showed up. But, today they had dwindled down to four.

Our friends from Terry Hayes Road were not in attendance either. The exception was one solitary male Northern Harrier that skirted the edge of the valley and then departed to the south. The Great-horned Owl, who spent most of the winter ensconced in the inner safety of a huge tree, was gone. The Golden Eagle who resides in the basalt cliff must have had other plans. And the porcupines had departed for the year.

But, a wonderful surprise as we drove north on Road H NE toward Mary Jane Hill and the valley of East Foster Creek! We passed a farm with a row of tall Ponderosa Pines and there we came across a pair of Rough-legged Hawks dancing a final waltz. We stood in the road and just watched them glide above us. A very fitting Last Dance of the Season!

Today’s Survey:

Red-tailed Hawk (RTHA) 4
American Kestrel (AMKE) 3
Northern Harrier (NOHA) 2
Bald Eagle – Subadult (BAEA) 1
Rough-legged Hawk (RLHA) 4