Hello, all:



Yesterday morning (Sunday), my husband encountered a large raptor perched in
a tree along the main trail in Ravenna Park, east of the 20th Ave.
pedestrian bridge, about where the upper trails join the main lower trail by
the small bridge over the stream. He was only able to study it from the
rear for a minute, before it flew off. It appeared about the size of a
Red-tailed Hawk, but the tail markings did not agree with what he thought
possible for a red-tail. The fringe end of the tail was white. Above the
white edge of the end, there were three rather wide black bands, alternating
with gray. The body was a grey and white mottled pattern. After it flew,
he heard calls that were similar to a Red-tail, but after listening to some
recorded calls later, believed that they could have been the calls of a
Rough-legged Hawk. The bird was too bulky, he thought, to be a Cooper's
Hawk. Has anyone else seen this bird? Is it possible that a Rough-legged
Hawk could be in Ravenna Park in July?



Charlotte Byers

Seattle