Today was slightly warmer than yesterday but still just below freezing. There was a constant wind making it feel colder than it looked with the bright blue, cloudless sky. I was walking with a friend today and to my surprise, he pointed out an odd looking bird on the north side that turned out to be a Northern Shrike. It was kind of facing away from us for most of the time but turned it's head for this photo.
We would later spot him again -or possibly a second one on the other side of the park. Today's walk was dominated by Hawk sightings. We seemed to notice at least one every so often, usually with Crows or other birds nearby so it was possible the Crows were keeping them moving past us. On the southwest side we glanced up to see a pair of large Hawks circling high overhead.
They didn't seem to be Red-tails as they were strikingly white colored in many areas including the tail from both above and below. The eventually came almost right above us and showed us all their wing details. I'm definitely not a Hawk expert but I would guess that they were Rough-legged Hawks due to the very obvious difference in color near their "wrist" and to the black bands near the tip of the tail. The pair glided near each other once or twice but never managed to get a good shot of both of them at once. And if we hadn't had our share of Raptors for the day, we were in for one more treat shortly later on the south side.
We'd spotted a bright white patch way out in the middle of the park that turned out to be a mature Bald Eagle upon closer inspection with binoculars. Then we saw a second one, perched about the same height but in another tree further away. This one would nearly disappear when it turned it's head a certain way and we realized the second one was immature. Crows eventually flushed this one out, but he circled back and came to roost on the very same branch as the other one. Even from this distance their size was impressive. A good day for Raptors for sure.
We would later spot him again -or possibly a second one on the other side of the park. Today's walk was dominated by Hawk sightings. We seemed to notice at least one every so often, usually with Crows or other birds nearby so it was possible the Crows were keeping them moving past us. On the southwest side we glanced up to see a pair of large Hawks circling high overhead. 
They didn't seem to be Red-tails as they were strikingly white colored in many areas including the tail from both above and below. The eventually came almost right above us and showed us all their wing details. I'm definitely not a Hawk expert but I would guess that they were Rough-legged Hawks due to the very obvious difference in color near their "wrist" and to the black bands near the tip of the tail. The pair glided near each other once or twice but never managed to get a good shot of both of them at once. And if we hadn't had our share of Raptors for the day, we were in for one more treat shortly later on the south side. 
We'd spotted a bright white patch way out in the middle of the park that turned out to be a mature Bald Eagle upon closer inspection with binoculars. Then we saw a second one, perched about the same height but in another tree further away. This one would nearly disappear when it turned it's head a certain way and we realized the second one was immature. Crows eventually flushed this one out, but he circled back and came to roost on the very same branch as the other one. Even from this distance their size was impressive. A good day for Raptors for sure.
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