Wednesday, February 5, 2020

Harlan's Intergrade Reconnaissance

Yesterday I ventured south of Madison to the Stoughton area on a reconnaissance mission to find and photograph the uniquely plumaged Dane County Harlan's (intergrade) Hawk. Harlan's is subspecies of Red-tailed Hawk that is rather rare for Wisconsin. There has been much debate about the ID of this bird.


It is believed this is the same bird identified as a juvenile Harlan's last winter at the same location which presented as a classic Harlan's juvenile. With its return to the exact location this winter showing traits of a second year bird, the ID of this bird has become complicated. I am not well versed in the subspecies and molt limits of Red-tailed Hawk. However, from what I gather this plumage is a bit atypical but within the morphological plausibility of being the Harlan's subspecies or at a minimum possessing Harlan's genes. Apparently they can show red in the tail though not usually to the degree seen in this bird. Per Brian Sullivan of eBird this bird is being placed in the Harlan's subspecies for eBird purposes so that the records are not lost in the sea of generic Red-tailed Hawks.

My second try at finding this bird was the charm. I arrived at ground zero of the "Harlan's" winter territory immediately finding it landing on a perch near the road.



I had mentally and physically planned my approach to shooting this bird should I be so lucky to find it in a reasonably close location. Lord knows photographing perched and in-flight raptors has been a trial and error process for me, filled mostly with errors.



The Dos and Don'ts I've ascertained over the course of many epic fails are as follows.

  • DON'T  pull right under the bird on the same side of the road. 
  • Definitely DON'T pull along side the bird and try to shoot it out the passenger window when you are the driver. The angle is tricky and the heat waves from the interior of the vehicle with fuck your focus. 
  • DO use your car as a blind. 
  • DO shoot out the side of the car you are seated on. If you need to drive past the bird and U-turn back this is preferable to trying to manage some awkward shot across the seat of your car. 
  • DO keep the heat low or off with the windows cracked open so you don't get turbulence and fucked focusing. 
  • DO have your camera settings prepared in advanced. I prefer a manual shutter and aperture with an auto iso. I lean toward faster shutter speeds and make additional adjustments once I knock off some initial shots if it appears I have a cooperative subject. 
  • DO read your camera manual to understand which is the optimal image stabilization setting for birds in flight (something I have NEVER done).
  • DON'T listen to me because I am still falling short of mastering shots of birds in flight.

Though not a complete fail, I once again struggled with how use my car as a blind while having enough freedom of movement to stay on the bird when it took flight. And then there's knowing your camera and knowing which stability setting to use. I botched that this time around.


Maybe it's time I break out the manual.



I did encounter this beauty a few more times as I circled its territory. But the money shot that I fell short on arrived in those first initial minutes of finding the bird. Despite missing the perfection mark with my photos I was wowed regardless. He's a stunner for sure!

Tuesday, February 4, 2020

Winter Birding with the Boys

Aaron, Tom & Ted hawk-watching, Devil's Lake State Park east meadow, Sauk Co WI, 1Feb2020
This past weekend, schedules aligned for some bird-watching with long time birding pals, Tom, Aaron and Ted. Saturday was the day though it partially conflicted with my plans to attend Orchid Quest 2020 at Olbrich Botanical Gardens.


The boys started birding early in eastern and central Dane County looking for waterfowl including the wintering female Harlequin Duck that has been present in Madison since late December. I had already seen this bird in my 5MR/7.5MR birding patches, so was fine with missing this target bird of the day. They also went toward Stoughton for the Harlan's Hawk that is spending its second winter in Dane County. I have yet to see this bird. I looked for it yesterday for the first time in the two winters it has resided in Dane County. Despite the sunny hawk-worthy skies, I dipped. This flashy male American Kestrel was my consolation prize.

American Kestrel, Hwy 138 Stoughton area, 3Feb2020

But back to Saturday's adventures...After getting my brief fill of orchids and unloading one hundred and sixty dollars plus, Peter and I joined the Jedi forces of Tom, Aaron and Ted for afternoon birding in Sauk and Columbia counties.


Our afternoon targets were Golden Eagle at Devil's Lake State Park and Townsend's Solitaire at Gibraltor Rock State Natural Area (aka Poor man's Devil's Lake per Tom).

Aaron, Peter, Ted and Tom, Devil's Lake State Park east meadow, Sauk Co, WI 1Feb2020
The weather was balmy and unseasonably warm. I was hopeful with the clouds breaking up in the afternoon that we would find the Golden Eagles riding the thermals. While we found numerous Red-taileds, Bald Eagles and a lone Rough-legged, we dipped on the previously reported Goldens. I could not complain about the miss given the perfect company, the scenery and the fact that I had recently seen a nice Golden perched along highway 14 during a trip to western Wisconsin to visit my uncle.

Golden Eagle, Richland Co, WI 26Jan2020


After putting forth respectable effort with the search for Goldens, we drove twenty minutes east to Gibraltor Rock in pursuit of Townsend's Solitaire. Though this species had not been reported since the first week of the new year, we were fairly confident this was a result of a lack of effort as opposed to the species having left the area. Even if we had dipped, this was my first visit to this state natural area and I was looking forward to the exploring the area regardless of what birds we saw.

Gibraltor Rock State Natural Area, Columbia County 1Feb2020


Gibraltor Rock did not disappoint. The scenery was certainly pleasing. More importantly we found our target bird, Townsend's Solitaire, teed up along the overlook.

Townsend's Solitaire, Gibraltor Rock SNA, Columbia Co, WI 1Feb2020


This species is a "rare" but annual visitor to Wisconsin during the winter months and certainly one of those nuggets I look forward to seeing during the paucity of bird diversity characteristic of winter birding.

Townsend's Solitaire, Gibraltor Rock SNA, Columbia Co, WI 1Feb2020


Satisfied with our looks at the Townsend's Solitaire it was time to part ways. Tom needed to get back to Green Bay and daylight was fading. We said our farewells as the boys briskly made their way down the bluff far ahead of my leisurely strolling balanced-impaired frame.

These group excursions are far too infrequent, the unintended result of moves that have spread us out across the state and country. The value of times like these is immeasurable. Life is short and unpredictable when it terminates. Make time for friends and nature while you can.