Saturday, November 12, 2011

Raptors at the Falls


Knowing the wind would be cold and blustery at the Falls of the Ohio in November, we dressed warmly and joined the Beckham Bird Club on a Saturday morning bird walk. We hit the jackpot today for raptors, sighting a Peregrine Falcon, three American Kestrels, a Cooper's Hawk, and a Red Shouldered Hawk camouflaged at the top of a tree snag.


It was bound to be a great day when this juvenile Bald Eagle soared over the parking lot as we got out of the car! It was considerate enough to circle around a few times till I got my camera out and turned on.

A few minutes later, we spotted a second juvenile Eagle, and for a while, both were visible at the same time as they walked around on the fossil beds. Remember, it takes five years for a Bald Eagle to mature and get its white head and tale, but until then, they have varying amounts of white on their wings and body. This one has quite a lot of white on its belly.


We only saw one or two vultures this morning, which is unusual for the Falls, but it was easy to distinguish the flat wings of the eagle from the dihedral of the vultures.


Before we left at the end of the morning, one eagle swooped over the water with his feet extended and grabbed a fish out of the water. The gulls scattered thinking he was coming after them instead!


We climbed to the top of the levee, as as we caught our breath, a Kestrel swooped around, flashing his wings, then landed on a perch next to a female which is probably his mate. A third Kestrel flew off in another direction. What a wonderful way to start the day!

4 comments:

Jen Sanford said...

Very cool! I don't think I've ever seen two kestrels so close together!

Mary Howell Cromer said...

Looks like it truly was a Raptor day for you, wonderful!!! What a thrill to have seen those juvie BE's! I had a good day yesterday too. Will share my urban Red-tailed later today. Take care~

Mary Howell Cromer said...

Looks like it truly was a Raptor day for you, wonderful!!! What a thrill to have seen those juvie BE's! I had a good day yesterday too. Will share my urban Red-tailed later today. Take care~

Karen Bonsell said...

I almost came to that field trip, but my husband ended up being off that day & we went to Muscatatuck & Ewing Bottoms. These places were very rewarding, but @ juvie BE's soaring over the parking lot? Man, I hate that I missed that!