Hello Tweeters!

I have a possible ID I'd love run by you all. Walking the North Creek trail
in an office park not far from 405 in Bothell today, Oct. 17, I looked to
the windy, overcast skies to the east see a soaring, Red-tailed-Hawk-shaped
hawk. I suspect it might have been a Rough-legged Hawk. Here's my story.

I got my bins on it a soon as I could because something about it didn't
seem quite right for a red-tail. For one, no red tail, but a darkish tail
with white at the base (but not, to my eyes, as extensively white as many
photos I've looked up for Rough-legged Hawk) . It overall looked smaller
then the typical red-tails I see in this area, with slightly thinner wings.
The belly band appeared to be there, but I didn't get close enough looks at
the underwings. I tried to swing my camera up in enough time to get some
shots, but it dipped below the nearby office buildings and into a nearby
forested area, going beyond my sight after about 5 minutes.

eBird reports make this a possibility this season, with Ryan Merrill
reporting one in Carkeek Park Sept. 30 and Blair Bernson reporting one Oct.
16 in Edmonds. Ryan's Sept. 30 sighting notes match pretty well with what I
was seeing.

What does anyone here think?

Keep watching the (windy) skies,

Jeremy Schwartz
Lake Forest Park
jschwartz1124 AT gmail DOT com
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