Hi folks,

I need help ID-ing a bird we saw on Friday on Decoursey Bridge Road near Blackwater NWR.  Embarrassingly, I mis-identified this as a Golden Eagle in my species report, but after looking at the photos it's clear to me that was wrong, wrong, wrong.  In my defense, the bird took off almost as soon as we saw it, from some distance and what we got the best look at initially was the plummage on the head, back and top of the wings.  Didn't get a look at the bird's undercarriage until I started reviewing my photos yesterday.   I was looking at it through my camera viewfinder with a not-nearly long enough lens ... and we really wanted it to be a Golden as we were told there had been Goldens seen in that area.  Anyway, now I'm thinking it's a rough-legged hawk, but my bird ID confidence is at low ebb, so assistance would be greatly appreciated.  Here is the link to a gallery of quite inferior photos of it - but the ones that show the legs are the ones that really help, I think.  (The photos are heavily cropped from the originals, hence the low quality, but I think there is enough detail to ID):

photos of ??? hawk??

When you are done looking at those, if you want to see other photos I took on Friday in and around Blackwater, they are on display here:

Sarah's photos - Recent Additions gallery

Thanks in advance for your help!

Sarah Anderson
Cabin John, Maryland



 

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