[EBB Sightings] Ferruginous hawk continues at Lake Elizabeth in Fremont

On second thought, it's a light-morph juvenile
FERRUGINOUS HAWK, which I found again around 11 this
morning on a lightpost at the softball field next to
Lake Elizabeth in Fremont's Central Park. The bird is
small for a ferrug; I suppose it's a male.  This time,
I had my scope, and I'm happy to share some pretty
good photos - the subject makes the photo - at the
link below. If you casually glance at this bird,
particularly from behind, you might think "red-tailed
hawk". But the bird perfectly matches the description
of a light-morph juvenile from the new National
Geographic Complete Birds of North America:

"Dark brown back and upperwings are similar to many
red-tailed juveniles, but the head shows a large gape,
dark eye line, and lighter cheeks. The primaries have
light bases, giving a noticeable white spot on the
upper wings in flight. White undersides are usually
sparsely marked, and the leg feathers are white.  The
underwings are mostly white with scattered dark
markings, and with a dark comma at wrist. The light
tail has light bands on the outer half and a whitish
base."

I watched the bird swoop down - he does not look small
with those broad white (underneath) wings extended! -
and settle onto the ground, almost off-handedly, but
he'd caught something. I could not see what he had
caught, but the field is overrun with ground squirrels
right now. After a few moments, a work crew startled
him, and he carried his meal up to a lightpost, where
I was able to digiscope him.

He is a very exciting bird to watch, and he's easy to
locate. 

Photos here:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=bjlna54.cdlv8baw&x=0&y=-3gizaz 

Stephanie Floyd
Fremont


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