Jackie -

You are right - Ferruginous Hawk occurs on the eastern side of the
state, and in small numbers.

I was by the intersection this morning and had three raptors circling
the area. Two were adult Red-tailed Hawks, the third was a beautiful
"intermediate" morph juvenile/immature Red-tailed Hawk. Markings darker
than a light morph, but not the overall dark color of a dark morph.
Red-tails show dark in the primary tips. The bird I saw had the patagial
marks on the underside of the leading edge of the wing, diagnostic for
Red-tail, and also showed the dark head, light upper breast, darkish
band across the belly and light lower belly. It also showed the typical
banding on the tail of a juvenile/immature. It is probably this years
bird which is still hanging around and harassing its parents. Pretty
bird with almost no wear on the feathers, everything was nice and crisp
and contrasty.

Brian H. Bell
Woodinville WA
bellasoc at isomedia.com
www.peregrinenorthwest.com