[Birdtalk] Merlin, albino RTHA @ Bountiful Peak

[Tim Avery]

After reading Eric's tantalizing post about raptors yesterday I decided to head
up to Bountiful Peak and try my luck, or lack thereof in todays case.  I
arrived just before noon and was surprised to see cars parked near the peak. 
And more so surprised to see a Great Horned Owl decoy atop a poll on the knoll
to the west of the peak.  I decided to walk over and see who was trying to
bring the hawks in close with the fake, and was greeted by none other than
Jerry Ligouri, author of "Hawks from Every Angle", and a friend, both equipped
with cameras.  Talking with the two it had been a rather poor morning, and it
would continue to be through the day.  The highlights included a "Taiga" MERLIN
coming up over the ridge and spending several minutes buzzing the decoy,
allowing for great shots:

http://timaverybirding.com/photos/sept07/merl_01.jpg
http://timaverybirding.com/photos/sept07/merl_02.jpg
http://timaverybirding.com/photos/sept07/merl_03.jpg
http://timaverybirding.com/photos/sept07/merl_04.jpg

And of course one shot with the decoy:

http://timaverybirding.com/photos/sept07/merl_05.jpg

After the others left I hiked up to the peak, and although raptor numbers were
low the albino (or partially albino) Red-tailed Hawk made an appearance for
abotu 10 minutes:

http://timaverybirding.com/photos/sept07/rtha_02.jpg

I managed to get a few shots that I made into a composite of the bird banking in
good light:

http://timaverybirding.com/photos/sept07/rtha_comp_01.jpg

Birds seen:

 4 Northern Harrier
 3 Sharp-shinned Hawk
   http://timaverybirding.com/photos/sept07/ssha_03.jpg
 3 Cooper's Hawk
   http://timaverybirding.com/photos/sept07/coha_01.jpg
 2 Unidentified Accipiter
 9 Red-tailed Hawk
 1 Merlin
 1 Northern Flicker
 18 Clark's Nutcracker (one flock flew over the peak)
 2 Common Raven
 10 American Pipit
 2 Rock Wren
 1 White-breasted Nuthatch (also a flyover)
 6 Townsend's Solitaire
 1 Mountain Bluebird
 4 Orange-crowned Warbler
 2 Dark-eyed Junco
 2 Cassin's Finch
 11 Pine Siskin (another flyover)

Even with so few birds, the changing leaves are well worth the drive!

http://timaverybirding.com/photos/sept07/fall_colors_02.jpg


Cheers

Tim
Salt Lake City, UT
tanager at timaverybirding.com
http://www.timaverybirding.com
http://www.timavery.com