After our big dump of snow from Friday the roads were cleared and I was able to get out to do some road trapping around Peace River. I installed a few Kestrel boxes and found a good concentration of Rough-legged Hawks. First hawk I found ontop of Judah Hill was this Red-tailed, it came in as soon as I pulled away. Nice AHY male and was caught by 2 nooses. Its the first Redtail that has landed on the trap this spring.
AHY Male Red-tailed Hawk
Heading south to Harmon Valley Road found a few more hawks hunting in the snow covered fields but none would react. I headed east along HVR and found a group of Kestrels which I've never observed before. Usually families in August will hang out together before the young ones disperse, there were 5 adults hanging out together on a powerline, 3 females and 2 males, I was able to catch 2 of the females but the rest took off south.
Came across another field with a few Rough-legged Hawks hunting, there were 3 of them on the same branch so I dropped the trap and right away this beauty of a male came in and was caught. I don't know if the males are showing off their hunting skills for the females but anyway its always nice to hold such a beautiful bird and have a look at them up close and personal.
AHY Male Rough-legged Hawk
I went home for a bite to eat then headed back out for a bit. There was this male Kestrel hunting from a tree beside the road so I dropped the trap for him and he came in and was caught. Before I could turn the car back on a male Harrier came out of nowhere and attacked the Kestrel! I couldn't believe it, and out of nowhere yet again another male Harrier was attacking the first Harrier that was now caught! Another Kestrel decided to join the other Kestrel and 2 Harriers and I was just dumb founded!!! Is this even possible? And to top it all off a Sharp-shinned came in to see what all the commotion was about. I have never witnessed 5 raptors all going crazy over each other the way I just did, it was a pretty intense moment! After all the feathers had settled, I was able to catch the first two birds on the trap at the same time.
AHY Male American Kestrel
AHY Male Northern Harrier
First time I've ever caught a Northern harrier on a trap. There are more birds out here in Northern Alberta than I ever thought, Michelle was extremely happy with being able to hold her first Northern Harrier, one of her favourite birds...
