Jake's Landing Rough-legged Hawk

[Dark morph Rough-legged Hawk, Jake's Landing this afternoon. Click to enlarge.]

At lunchtime I wandered up the road to Beaver Swamp WMA and on to Jake's Landing. The Wintering Hawks, Eagles and Owls Workshop, which I lead with Megan Crewe (the link will take you to Meeg's page at Field Guides), is coming up February 12-14, and it's time to start keeping tabs on things a little more carefully.

Beaver Swamp was eagle-less, a surprise and disappointing given the very visible nest there, but Jake's Landing produced a Cooper's Hawk flashing through the pines and a dark Rough-legged Hawk out at the end of the road.

[Here's where to look for the Rough-legged Hawk, across Dennis Creek from the far corner of the parking lot (left corner if you're facing the creek). It likes this cedar, at least when the local Bald Eagle isn't sitting there. . .]