Golden

A local wildlife group sponsored a birding outing today.  We went out looking, and found Golden Eagles and Rough-legged Hawks, both life birds for me.  We saw two Golden Eagles flying, quickly, without much look, but fairly close.  And then we saw one perched a LONG way away (just a small image in a spotting scope), and got a really good long look (we were probably there for 15 minutes, across a valley from where it was perched up on a hill).  You could see the golden mantle and everything!

The first Rough-legged Hawk we saw was quick, but the second one, I had plenty of time to see the field marks.  I count that a win!

We saw Red-tailed Hawks, too, of course, and many Bald Eagles.  When I was a kid, seeing a Bald Eagle was amazing; they were so rare because of DDT.  But they're made an amazing comeback.

We also saw a Kestrel, Pheasant (2 hens), starlings, sparrows and such.

All in all, a very happy day of birding.