[Mnbird] When A Sighting Is Not A Sighting?

[Linda Whyte]

I thought that, too, but if the bird's overall plumage seemed a light
enough gray to suggest an adult male Harrier, it would seem too light for a
Cooper's.
I should have asked if they, or their neighbors, are keeping bird feeders
full, and finding fewer birds using them, eh?
That's what happens when the Cooper's starts hunting here.
Linda Whyte

On Thu, Jun 4, 2020, 10:25 AM Gregg Severson <rainerd at gmail.com> wrote:

> I would suggest that it could have been a Cooper's Hawk.  The white
> undertail coverts are often flared out and can be seen from above/behind
> the bird and give the impression of a white rump, especially in a quick
> viewing.
>
> Gregg Severson
> Minneapolis
>
> On Thu, Jun 4, 2020 at 9:07 AM Linda Whyte via Mnbird <
> mnbird at lists.mnbird.net> wrote:
>
>> Is there suitable habitat nearby? Wet meadow, etc? If so, why not a
>> Harrier? If you had stormy weather recently, might winds not have directed
>> it off-course, especially if easily available food was scarce enough during
>> early migration to weaken it?
>> Linda Whyte
>>
>> On Thu, Jun 4, 2020, 8:49 AM Brian and Cindy Drill via Mnbird <
>> mnbird at lists.mnbird.net> wrote:
>>
>>> Good morning all.  This is a late post, but I spent most of 2 days
>>> trying to figure out if 'I saw what I saw'.
>>>
>>> On Tuesday morning I was out to water plants.  As I walked to the front
>>> of the house, thinking only about unwinding the hose and what I was about
>>> to do, there was a sudden flurry of feather sounds coming from my right,
>>> but no vocalization.  We are talking about the width of a single driveway
>>> from me, at the front of my neighbors house.  As I turned quickly to find
>>> the source of the activity, a fairly large bird was launching away from me
>>> from somewhere around ground level.  It flew--not upwards, staying just
>>> above car tops but below the tree line--across the street and down the
>>> block and out of sight.
>>>
>>> In the few seconds I had to observe the bird (rear end view exclusively)
>>> I noted an overall grey color, but with a distinct white patch above the
>>> tail.  The flight was a bit different as well, a slower paced flap/soar
>>> pattern.  My thoughts were that it was too large for a pigeon, it reminded
>>> me of a hawk, yet I noticed some similarity to a gull in flight.  I have
>>> seen plenty of Nighthawks, and this bird was larger without the mottled
>>> coloring.
>>>
>>> Digging into my various bird books and online sources, it keeps coming
>>> back that I may have seen an adult male Northern Harrier.  I can't find
>>> another bird that has enough similar points to match up.  Thoughts?  Cindy
>>> in North Mankato
>>>
>>>
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>
> --
> Gregg Severson
> rainerd at gmail.com
>
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