This female northern harrier uses her prominently disked face, like that of an owl, to help her hear and hunt voles and mice in the marsh.
wild birds
Categorygoing up
Pair of mallards leaving the back swamp at Yates Mill Pond.
stripes
This small boldly marked bird is a black-and-white warbler – my first ever sighting of one.
If my friend had not shown it to me I would have missed it – even with it’s bright markings.
It is a busy bird and likes to stay in the shadows.
impossibly fast
Merlins can accelerate in flight at tremendous speeds.
I watched this one leave its perch in a tree and impossibly quick it was past me and down the canal line.
poised merlin
The sharply swept back, long tapered wings say “falcon”. This is the falcon known as a merlin.
They sometimes visit Mattamuskeet Refuge for the winter.
over my head
Yes, I was indeed almost directly beneath this immature re-shouldered hawk when he took flight
and let all the glorious autumn morning light shine through wings and tail.
doc ellen's journey 