Subject: List, larks, and stories
Date: Oct 2 12:14:21 1999
From: Kelly Cassidy - lostriver at seanet.com


Well, I have an interesting bird observation; at least it was interesting
to me.

About a month ago, at Magnuson park (Seattle), I was walking on the
swimming beach - mowed lawn, scattered trees, next to Lake Washington. I
heard a crow squawk and then a crashing through the leaves. A raptor
swooped up out of the trees and dove back in. More crow squawking. Of
course, crows began to appear out of nowhere to mob the raptor. I'm
thinking Cooper's Hawk or something along those lines, so I hurried over.
Turned out to be a Northern Harrier, pulling some atypical (to me) aerial
maneuvers. Judging by the heavy cinnamon color on the underside, I think it
was a juvenile. The harrier was not intimidated by the crows. Instead, it
took to chasing individuals in the mob. The mob quickly dispersed. The
harrier disappeared and I heard more crashing in the trees, but couldn't see
or hear anything else.

This harrier did not seem to be the long-suffering victim of a crow mob;
as far as I could tell, it was actively trying to get a crow.

Kelly Cassidy