That’s an unusual bird here, the ferruginous hawk, so we drove out to some agricultural land north of us to where it has been reported. (By “we drove”, of course, I mean that Judy drove while I hung my head out the window watching for birds. Think Pet Detective, or taking Henry for a car ride.) There is a prairie falcon out there too; another great bird for here; not uncommon out on the Eastern Colorado prairie, but a big deal here. With two really conspicuous birds to watch for in only one sky, how hard could it be?
We started off with a long-billed curlew in a yard.
We moved on to a red-tailed hawk on a utility pole.
Annie and Henry had a chance to get out of the car and stretch their legs.
Annie still has her puppy moments.
We saw northern harriers galore.
…coursing low over fields in search of munchies.
We saw a peregrine falcon atop a distant pole eating a mouse.
There were horned larks.
There was a really distinctive red-tailed hawk
Not so much for the red tail, but for the wing pattern.
And a vesper sparrow.
Perched and posed.
Want to guess how many ferruginous hawks and prairie falcons we saw?
Not so many.
No problem. There is something enchanting about the vast emptiness of the Colorado Eastern Plains …and the vast agricultural land of South Texas.
We’ll be back.
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