morning harrier

Photo by the great Dan Pancomo. Wiki media. 

I have said this before. I live on a ridge in the woods surrounded by trees. Yet, I am never really surprised by what I see outside. 

As Thor Hanson wrote in his book Feathers. "I'm never at a loss for things to study or topics to write about: everything in the natural world is fair game. If I'm not intrigued and excited every time I step outside, it just means I'm not paying attention." 

Indeed. That's basic naturalist ideology.  

The past month I have had oodles of meadow-loving Eastern bluebirds coming to my suet feeders and heated birdbath. Yes, I said oodles. It means a surprising number considering again that I live in the woods but have five different kinds of feeders out, so I attract attention. The more different kinds of birds you can attract, the more different kinds of birds you WILL attract. That's, Stephen Lyn doublespeak.   

But this morning I stepped out on my second-floor deck to find a female Northern harrier perched in a tree overhead. I spooked her, so she quickly flew, but it was just wonderful to watch as she dipped low passing at eye-level.

Harriers are only here in the winter, and are founded over open meadows like Seven Islands State Birding Park or Cades Cove. This one must have stopped by for the night on her journey back north. Harriers are also one bird-of-prey with sexual dimorphism like cardinals. The females are brown, the males gray but both have the very easy to identify white band around the rump. 

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