This morning I headed up to Joe Hayes Vista is search of a Golden Eagle and a possible Rough-legged Hawk. I struck out on both due to wrong wind direction for the ridge. Nate Fronk met me there and we headed down to Nixon Rd. to look for Horned Larks and other various field birds. As we were driving to Nixon Rd. we observed a flock of 8 to 10 Horned Larks in a field, but we didn't stop because of heavy traffic. The first field we stopped at was near the intersection of Whitehall Rd. and South Nixon Rd.. We heard a Horned Lark sing and immediately found it. It was a male. There was another singing across the road, but we could not find it. Below is a photo of the Horned Lark:
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| male Horned Lark (11/13/2010) |
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We then continued onto the Duck Pond to locate a Northern Shoveler that Joe Verico had reported earlier in the morning. It took us a while to find it mixed in with Green-winged Teal and the resident Mallards. The bird ended up being a male in fall/nonbreeding plumage. As we were observing the shoveler, 3 Red-tailed Hawks put on a show for us as they soared above the pond. Below are some photos from the Duck Pond:
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| Northern Shoveler (Duck Pond 11/13/2010) |
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| Red-tailed Hawk (Duck Pond 11/13/2010) |
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| Red-tailed Hawks (11/13/2010) |
Tomorrow Nate and I will be heading to bird somewhere, but we are not sure where yet. The winds are supposed to be southeast again and therefore will not produce very many or any raptors at Joe Hayes Vista. The weather isn't supposed to bad, so we will probably not go to BESP. We will probably end up birding Colyer Lake and fields nearby.
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