Leslie Street Spit - Dec 29

[thouc]

My best observation this morning was a Peregrine Falcon that perched on a post beside the roadway in front of me. It let me get about 30 m away before taking off. During the time I observed it flew off to harass a Snowy Owl (as told to me by another birder, I couldn't see the Snowy from where I was) before coming back to the same post again. I saw in total 2 Snowys and had a brief look of a Great Horned Owl flying through the woods.

[Trillian Flummox]

Hey Thomas I think that other birder was me!  I was watching the Peregrine on the post too when I saw you nearby, so I stopped where I was, afraid to flush it if I kept walking. What I didn't realize at the time was that I had stopped directly opposite the Snowy Owl across the road! It wasn't until the Peregrine came swooping in to attack that I finally noticed it! It was amazing to see the Snowy holding out his wings and puffing himself up to fend off his attacker (very much like that video from New Jersey). That's why I was trying to wave at you, but of course you couldn't see the owl yet. Anyway, I didn't want to stress the owl out any further by staying too close so that's why I was slowly making my way towards you and the Peregrine. I was also able to find a GHO and an LEO later in the day, but it was that Peregrine/Snowy encounter that made slipping and sliding on the ice for six hours totally worth it!

-Kris Ito

p.s. I did not find the Goshawk myself but heard that it was seen by others and had possibly moved down into the baselands. Perhaps it will stay for the winter??

[Rotarran]

Hi Thomas, it was nice meeting you today.  I actually saw the Goshawk again after we met but I could not see you to let you know.  And by the time you came back, the Goshawk had disappeared.  Just poor timing I guess, but it is there.  If you try again, there's a good chance you might see it.
Couple of pics:



My first spot (out of 3) was actually a crazy coincidence as I would have walked right past it, were it not for a very vocal female Hairy Woodpecker that got my attention which then lead my eyes straight to the Goshawk that was hidden very well past the thickets and branches (as per the first pic).  

Here's a pic of that great Woodpecker, I believe she deserves some credit and attention as well:  

[momahony]

I think I saw the goshawk...but my raptor ID is not great. It would fly away whenever someone came close to it.  It liked the tree at the entrance to the peninsula where the 1st Snowy was; I saw it there several times.  It flew over to the harbour where it landed on a tree, then flew back across where it parked on another tree until a couple got somewhat close to ... Then it flew back to its first tree.  It flew using only a couple of wing strokes. I noticed that the wingtip feathers curled up a bit while it was gliding.  It wasn't a solid colour...but it was overall a dark brown or gray.  Underneath, it seemed fairly light-colored with some pattern on belly-possibly a lighter breast.  It seemed about the size of a red-tailed hawk- but appeared slimmer to me- both body & wing width,

Could this have been the Goshawk?  (I didn't travel back to its tree because a long-eared owl was just too fascinating to watch.)

Meg


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[mr.sharp-photo]

I think I saw the goshawk...but my raptor ID is not great. It would fly away whenever someone came close to it.  It liked the tree at the entrance to the peninsula where the 1st Snowy was; I saw it there several times.  It flew over to the harbour where it landed on a tree, then flew back across where it parked on another tree until a couple got somewhat close to ... Then it flew back to its first tree.  It flew using only a couple of wing strokes. I noticed that the wingtip feathers curled up a bit while it was gliding.  It wasn't a solid colour...but it was overall a dark brown or gray.  Underneath, it seemed fairly light-colored with some pattern on belly-possibly a lighter breast.  It seemed about the size of a red-tailed hawk- but appeared slimmer to me- both body & wing width,

Could this have been the Goshawk?  (I didn't travel back to its tree because a long-eared owl was just too fascinating to watch.)

Meg


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nice that you spotted a LEO. i didn't see any yesterday (didn't look too hard) but saw 3 on boxing day. looking for LEOs mid-day on the weekend is a recipe for failure. they've all likely been flushed. just making sure, tho, that you don't mean GHO instead of a LEO. the GHO was incredibly visible (and sleepy) yesterday

you were probably walking near me. pretty sure that was the  goshawk putting on that show. surprised that it flew so far south. i have to look at my photos to ID it. there also apparently was a harrier flying around, so I want to make sure i didn't confuse the 2.
there was another raptor that landed on a post in the 1st pond. also saw a kestrel. it was a raptor day indeed.

[thouc]

Seems like everybody was there yesterday! Nice meeting you Kris and Rotarren.

Kris, we kind of got stuck on opposite sides of the Peregrine, since neither of us wanted to flush it. I had to flush it eventually to get going, but it was sure an experience, and nice for you to see it interact with the Snowy.

Rotarren, hopefully I get a chance to see the Goshawk and Long-eared Owl some other time.

Mamahony, I saw a Red-tailed Hawk at the location you saw the raptor, but your description seems more like a Northern Harrier.

[CalvinBird]

Hi Meg,

To me, the easiest way to ID Goshawk is the white eyebrow. When standing, its overall shape is similar to Cooper's, but larger and and stronger. I had seen very large female Cooper's before, almost as large as Goshawk, but I can feel her shape is not as strong as Goshawk.

Red-tailed's shape is a little bit shorter and fatter, and their faces and eyes are different, Goshawk's eyes are sharper. While in flight, the dark mark on the leading edge of the wings is the easy way to ID Red-tailed.

For your reference.

Calvin
North York

[momahony]

Thanks for all the feedback.  It was a great day for owls... I saw 2 Snowy's and the Great Horned too...definitely a mellow bird!  The Long-eared was beautiful!  It flew within a couple of meters of me...what a gorgeous face.


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