The Kootenay Lake website offers more pictures of local Red-tailed Hawks.
Spring brings the Red–tailed Hawk to Kootenay Lake. It sits high in trees and intently watches the nearby ground for delectables—especially delectables of the vole persuasion.
At first, this posting guessed the hawk to be a dark morph. Two knowledgeable birders (Rick Howie, Doug Brown) suggested that it is actually a rufous morph, so the page was amended.
The Red–tailed Hawk is a tremendously variable looking bird. It comes in differently coloured morphs: the fairly common light morph, the rufous (intermediate) morph, the less common dark morph. Over a week ago, I saw a light morph and showed it under the posting Killdeer, Hawk. However, today on the North Shore I saw the rufous morph. Compare this bird’s breast with that of the earlier posting. Below is a picture of it in a tree and another of it flying.
Then, just for the fun of it, I included a picture of a Pied–billed Grebe seen soon afterwards at the Nelson waterfront.
And the Pied–billed Grebe.
You are flying with strong wings, Alistair!
Your site is becoming one of my “most favourite”, for both text and photos.
What a nice touch today, to include the little Pied-billed Grebe.
Hi Alistair, we were out enjoying the sun on Marsden face yesterday. There is a pair of red-tailed hawks which may be reliably enjoyed, flying above the brushy slopes above the road. – doug