Jerry, Sandy, and all,

The unusual flight you described for a male Northern Harrier
sounds like a typical courtship display. Many other large diurnal
raptors (Ospreys, buteos) have somewhat similar displays, but the
behavior you describe is very characteristic of Northern Harriers.

Wayne C. Weber
Kamloops, B.C.
wayne_weber at bc.sympatico.ca


-----Original Message-----
From: sanjer at televar.com <sanjer at televar.com>
To: Inland-nw-birders <inland-nw-birders at uidaho.edu>; Tweeters
<tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Date: Monday, April 24, 2000 9:00 AM
Subject: Late Rough-legged Hawk and Happy Harrier.


>The question is not if it was a Rough-legged Hawk but is it getting
>late for them to be in eastern WA.
>
>Yesterday ten miles east of Grand Coulee (where the wheat fields
>start) we saw a RLHA. It was an easy ID as it was hovering near the
>edge of the road.
>
>We also watched some new (to us) behavior by a Male Northern Harrier.
>He would fly horizontal and get up some speed then pitch straight up
>(not flapping its wings) until it stalled, at that point it would
>pitch over and head down with a few wing beats and do the same thing
>over and over again. He did this at least a dozen times and them met
>up with a female harrier. I heard her say "stop showing off!! and go
>get me some breakfast". :-))
>
>Jerry and Sandy Converse
>Grand Coulee, WA
>mailto:sanjer at televar.com
>http://ConverseCorner.com
>
>Never be afraid to try something new.
>Remember, amateurs built the Ark and
>Professionals built the Titanic.
>
>