Murray,

I saw and photographed a Northern Harrier holding outstretched
wings and fanned tail at dawn on a foggy morning as the sun
burned through the fog. I assumed it was drying its feathers
Cormorant style. Could your bird have been wet?

Ed Schulz
Everett, WA

-----Original Message-----
From: MurrayH at aol.com <MurrayH at aol.com>
To: Tweeters at u.washington.edu <Tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Date: Friday, November 27, 1998 7:40 PM
Subject: Cooper's Hawk


>Just yesterday, we observed a Cooper's Hawk exhibiting some
strange (to us)
>behavior: first perched at the very top of a tall Douglas
Fir, it spread its
>wings and tail for moments on end; then, it appeared on the
ground in front
>of our herb garden sage patch where our ground-feeding birds
hide, and, again,
>spread both its wings and tail and remained poised in that
position for
>perhaps 10 to 20 seconds before hopping a few paces and, then
again, spreading
>its wings and tail for a few more seconds before it flew
away. Any other
>similar observations out there? Any written accounts? It
was really an
>amazing display!
>
>Murray Hansen
>Graham, WA
>MurrayH at aol.com