![\"\"](\"http:\/\/outdooredguys.files.wordpress.com\/2010\/11\/rth.jpg\")
Red-tailed Hawk (P. Rasberry)<\/p><\/div>\n
We saw an even dozen rough-legged hawks, or \u201croughies\u201d, one a strikingly patterned dark phase morph.\u00a0 These birds are larger overall than the red-taileds,\u00a0 have black patches at the \u201cwrists\u201d on the underside of the wings, banded tails and characteristically hunt by hovering in one spot above the field.\u00a0 Roughies nest on the taiga and tundra of northern Canada, well up into the arctic islands.\u00a0 We see them only in winter when they migrate south in search of food.<\/p>\n
We also saw a number of American kestrels, the smallest of our N.A. falcons.\u00a0 Along the roadsides they hunt small rodents from perches on the hydro lines.\u00a0 See one, keep watching \u2013 you\u2019re likely to locate it\u2019s mate further down the road.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/outdooredguys.files.wordpress.com\/2010\/11\/kestrel.jpg\")
American Kestrel (P. Rasberry)<\/p><\/div>\n
Two northern harriers made our list, a mottled brown female on the trip up, a grey male on the way home.\u00a0 Harriers have owl-like facial discs as they hunt by sound. They, along with turkey vultures, fly with their wings in a dihedral, or V-shape.\u00a0 This configuration creates drag at the expense of lift, and roll stability in turbulent air, always returning them to level flight.\u00a0 These characteristics lend themselves to low speed, grass-top level flights, which combined with their ability to hover makes them superb grassland hunters.<\/p>\n
Add in a couple of Cooper\u2019s hawks – one of which was almost struck by the car ahead of us as it crossed the highway in a low-level, high speed glide; 3 flocks of snow buntings \u2013 a circumpolar, high arctic breeder; and an immature bald eagle spotted at Dorcas Bay on the Bruce and it was a pretty amazing weekend.\u00a0 The only disappointment was in not seeing any snowy owls \u2013 something to look forward to on the next trip\u2026<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/outdooredguys.files.wordpress.com\/2010\/11\/snowy-owl.jpg\")
Snowy Owl (P. Rasberry)<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
On a return trip to Tobermory at the tip of the Bruce Peninsula this past weekend \u2013 about 7 hours total driving time – we were treated to an awesome array of raptor sightings.\u00a0 On even the shortest of southern Ontario road trips you\u2019re likely to spot a red-tailed hawk or two soaring over the […]<\/p>\n