My comfort zone

I spent a great deal of time outside this morning hawkwatching, my favorite subset of the broader pastime of birding. The chance to see diurnal raptors was only part of the reason I felt compelled to roast myself in the rising sun. The other motivation was that our air conditioning went out on Thursday morning and I was finding the light breeze wafting through the 95̊ air in the front yard preferable to the increasingly stagnant 85̊ air in the house.

Despite the impure motives, I had a productive morning with the birds of prey. I first spotted an American kestrel (Falco sparverius Linn.) and then another, both immature, and both likely among the four kestrels I photographed back in June. I then spotted a lone Harris' hawk (Parabuteo unicinctus Temminck). Turkey vultures (Cathartes aura Linn.) appeared in pairs and trios, circling slowly. I always put a spotting scope on the big black dihedrals, as there's always a chance to see the buteo that mimics them so effectively.

Sure enough, after watching the vultures on and off for over two hours, a zone-tailed hawk (Buteo albonotatus Kaup) came into my field of view. It circled once, then dove between some trees in a neighborhood just north of mine. It emerged about 10 seconds later with a small animal in its talons. I then watched as the hawk entered a thermal and started circling effortlessly skyward, all while repeatedly bringing a foot forward to its bill, consuming the small bird it had just captured. About ten minutes later, the same (or another) zone-tailed hawk soared right over the house, allowing me the opportunity to snap the photograph I've been waiting for almost a year-and-a-half to take. The bird flew so low, in fact, that I was able to discern that it was an adult female (note the single broad and two narrow tail bands; adult males have only one of each).


Later, with the outside air now genuinely hot and the house even more intolerable, I found myself in the shade of a tree in my yard. Two likely turkey vultures circled to the east but as soon as I put my field glasses on them, I saw that it was a pair of zone-tailed hawks. I've seen singles in my neighborhood, but never a pair. Understand also that these were two individuals among a U.S. population that includes only 200-300 nesting pairs spread across the southwest. Rare birds indeed, and I felt privileged to be watching them. I watched in amazement as they thermalled steadily upward, simultaneously wheeling about and short-stooping on one another. Eventually, the acrobatics ceased and just as the birds neared the so-called limits of conjecture, a movement along the curve of my street caught my eye. It was a white van, words in large letters on the side, ladders on the roof, and moving slow, as if the driver was looking for an address. The AC guy!

Fifteen minutes later, with a short run of burned-up wire replaced and the freon levels checked, cold air was once again pouring from the registers. And, with the thermostat now moving in the opposite direction of the outdoor thermometer rather than chasing it, I went back inside, not knowing what sorts of aerial dramas might be playing out in the skies above my house.

Of course, I'll be back outside soon enough. I still need an accipiter in order to claim the trifecta of raptor genera for the day. And, while Veelz hasn't reported seeing any grasshopper-eating raptors in Marana this year, there's always the chance to see a Swainson's hawk (B. swainsonii Bonaparte) soaring over, bound for Argentina. And its nearly autumn, which precedes winter; there could be almost anything out there. I'd better go.