Photo (C) Wendy Willis
Observers: Chris McCreedy
Email: cmccreedy@prbo.org
Remote Name: 209.221.205.174
Date: 06/15/2005
Time: 05:07 PM -0400
I have seen them in the area for a week. The male often brings food (today it was a Least Chipmunk), the female then flushes and rises into the air, they occasionally call, and then he lets go of the catch, which she then snags in flight. The nest is in the middle of a rosefield, on the ground. There is a Willow Flycatcher nest only nine meters away, though the flycatcher was deconstructing her nest. Maybe the harriers are too noisy to build nests nearby. Or maybe it was the beaks and talons. There were five young in the harrier nest, I don't know how to age them, but they were alert and around 10 cm high while sitting (though covered with gooseflesh and white fuzz). We've been nest searching on that plot for six seasons now, and we've never had a pair of harriers before.