Sauvie Island.
The hawk madness all began with a single goose. Wednesday evening I received an eBird alert in my email that an Emperor Goose had been photographed on Sauvie Island that morning. My friend Frank had just arrived in town and we made plans to go goosing Thursday morning, arriving fairly early at the spot. A lone dead cackler lay in the field. We searched the flock of 15-20,000 Cackling Geese wandering a potato patch near the bridge with no luck, noting only a few Snow Geese and one Greater White-fronted.
We were denied the goose but went on to bird several other spots. In the evening I found Beverly Hallberg's post of a potential dark morph Ferruginous Hawk on Sauvie Island, perhaps a bird we had even seen as we drove by on our goose hunt. She posted some interesting photos here.
Friday morning Frank and I joined forces with Audrey, powered by sugary donuts, and returned to the island to look for the hawk. We immediately crossed paths with Andy Frank at the goose party for …
We were denied the goose but went on to bird several other spots. In the evening I found Beverly Hallberg's post of a potential dark morph Ferruginous Hawk on Sauvie Island, perhaps a bird we had even seen as we drove by on our goose hunt. She posted some interesting photos here.
Friday morning Frank and I joined forces with Audrey, powered by sugary donuts, and returned to the island to look for the hawk. We immediately crossed paths with Andy Frank at the goose party for …