September 5

Good Morning

I went looking for shorebirds on Thursday but couldn’t find very many. The highest concentration was at the Camrose Driving range. The golfers hit their balls into a pond. About 30 Stilt Sandpipers where in the shallows. I decided I didn’t need a close-up that badly.

I did have an excellent day with the raptors however. I found a couple of interesting Red-tailed Hawks.

Red-tailed Hawks come in many different varieties. There are 14 sub-species of Red-tailed Hawks, of which we can see 5 in western Canada. 

Each of the subspecies has color morph’s which normally range from light to medium to dark. And juveniles have different plumage from adults. In this field guide I am using, 56 out of the 296 pages of bird identification are dedicated to red-tailed hawks.

I have only seen three sub-species in Alberta:  the Eastern, which covers most of the province and the Western which is found in the foothills and mountains. The Harlan’s breeds in the Arctic and migrates through the province.

On Thursday, I saw what I believe to be a Harlan’s Light Morph with Light markings. I am awaiting confirmation from my hawk ID specialist friend, so I am taking a risk sharing this ahead of confirmation:) I have only seen one other one and that was outside of Yellowknife, NWT.

Regardless of it’s name , it is a beautiful bird.

Stay well