Special Report: Northern Harrier

Sunday dawned soggy but windy and mostly clear – a seemingly rare occurrence in a long stretch of gloom and rain. Rousting the BirdingPI.com team with fresh coffee and unfulfilled promises of doughnuts, rubber boots were donned for an early start to attempt the full Gull Point trail (beach trail and old trail) at Presque Isle State Park.

Apparently due to the previous day’s bad weather, the Budny Beach (Beach 10) parking lot (Gull Point trailhead) was bereft of cars – a rare occurrence. As suspected, the old trail was flooded out, but wet sand made for relatively easy going along the beach route. As with recent excursions, the Gull Point mud flats and ponds were fairly quiet, except for a magnificent encounter with a lovely immature Northern Harrier – significant enough to warrant the present special report.

Characteristic features of the Northern Harrier include the somewhat owl-like face, and a distinctive white rump patch. (See the picture several frames below.) Immature or juvenile Harriers may have darker heads and a diffuse red-brown color on the chest/torso, as here. Additionally, a fairly steady breeze facilitated classic Harrier behavior – low swooping over the ground, almost hovering in spots at time, with periodic drops to the ground/grass. (No prey capture observed.) After a good 15+ minutes, it alighted on a branch to briefly preen, then flew off towards the Presque Isle interior.

Camera equipment mostly Nikon (e.g., D7500 and 200-500mm f5.6). Proved finnicky in terms of properly focusing at long distance when in different modes (e.g., continuous focus vs. single-point focus) – we continue to be generally underwhelmed by the inconsistency with Nikon. Pictures taken both from the ground and from the Observation Platform.

Dateline: 24 October 2021