Caracara search turns up many Ferruginous hawks

["David Wheeler" <dswheeler at utah dot gov>]

Hello, fellow birders.
 
Yesterday we went out to seek the elusive caracara in Rush Valley (yes,
what a rush!).  We came upon a field near where the Caracara was
reported to have been spotted and our hearts leapt as a black & white
raptor landed in the grass.  Then another black and white raptor leapt
up, then another, some landed, more flew up,.... You get the picture. 
ANYWAY, we quickly realized we had not found the caracara but had
stumbled upon a group of at least 7 Ferruginous hawks, mostly immature,
of various darknesses.  Many of these hawks were predominantly dark
above, with prominent white windows in the wings, white bases to the
tails, and whitish heads with dark caps.  Alas, though interesting by
sheer number, these were not the birds we were looking for.  I offer
this tale of our momentary folly of hope as a caution to other earnest
birders with potentially weak hearts.
 
And speaking of interesting due to numbers, Larene and I saw AT LEAST
21 Great egrets while seeking the ill-fated jaeger by Willard Bay.  And
there appeared to be dozens more in the background we didn't closely
check out (confirm) due to our urgent desire to return to work (ahem). 
I have never seen anything like that number in our state before.  Seeing
the group confirms my stubborn assertions over the years that there just
isn't any rational reason why this species, found on just about every
continent of the world, often in humungo numbers, should be all but
absent from our fair and hospitable state.  After all, the habitat in
Zion appears no worse than in other areas they occur in great numbers! 
Anyway, I'd say it appears they may finally be spreading to fill the
Great niche they rightly should.  Now I'll have to find something else
to be scandalized about....
 
Happy birding!
 
David
 
 

_______________________________________________

"Utah Birds" web site: http://www.utahbirds.org
     BirdTalk:
To subscribe, e-mail:  birdtalk-subscribe@utahbirds.org
To unsubscribe, e-mail:  birdtalk-unsubscribe@utahbirds.org
To send a message, e-mail:  birdtalk@utahbirds.org
_________________________________________________