Winter Hawks

Doing a Christmas bird count we found a Red-shouldered Hawk at Branched Oak. others have found it there as well. The bird seems to have wintered here. This was unusual before and the bird is never found West of Lincoln.

In various places in Lancaster county in Dec and Jan you can find rough legged hawks:

Other rough leggeds are quite dark. The upper side has some white spotting but the white spot on the rump is not always there:

Today I found an odd hawk that does not quite fit rough legged. The head is very light, most our redtails have brownish heads. The heavy streaking on the upper breast is not typical. I left it unassigned.