At 01:47 PM 10/14/98 EDT, StahlfeldE at aol.com wrote:

>I had the pleasure of seeing the reddest red tail on a red-tail (hawk) of any
>red-tail that I have seen in a long time, at eye-level, one lane away, as the
>red-tail flared next to the northbound lanes of I-5 yesterday about noon.

Since redtails molt their flight feathers over the summer and since many
are just now
completing this molt, their tails are in better shape now than at any other
time
of year, and that includes color. As many of you know, I band hawks, and it's
pretty amazing just how beat up and faded the tails of redtails get over
the course
of the year. Banding in the fall, during migration, most adults aren't
done molting
when we catch them, and the old feathers nearly always are broken and
ratty, and
the color very pale compared to the new feathers. Seeing as redtails soar
much
of the day in open country, it's not terribly suprising I guess that they fade
to such an extent.

So if you like that deep brick-red chestnutty color of new redtail tail
feathers,
now's the time to check 'em out!

>Then, on the return trip south I saw nine birds circling fairly high above
the
>road, again right next to Boeing Field. I took a different route back and
got
>off the highway, and was too far away before I could stop so that I couldn't
>stop to positively ID them, but they looked for all the world like Turkey
>Vultures. After circling for a minute, all nine swept their wings back and
>glided south along the highway.

Turkey vultures typically migrate in smallish kettles in our area. By the
time
they get down to Veracruz, Mexico the kettles reach stupendous size.



- Don Baccus, Portland OR <dhogaza at pacifier.com>
Nature photos, on-line guides, and other goodies at
http://donb.photo.net