Last fall when my friend and I went to Bong, we saw this handsome young male Kestrel.
As we watched him we realized that he had an unusual marking on the back of his head. He has a white bullseye where it is usually a rufus color.
The usual coloring of a male Kestral so you can compare ...
Off he flew to an unsteady branch on top of a tree ...
After his brief balancing act he flew away ...
But then, across the road we saw a large hawk. He was too far away and my zoom lens wasn't enough to be able to identify him. But, when I got home, downloaded the pictures and digitally zoomed in on him, I was very surprised to see a male Northern Harrier. He has the long wings and tail and the signature field mark of the white rump patch. Whoo Hoo ... I know they are around, but in 10 years of hawk watching, I have only seen one other Northern Harrier. Very exciting :)