Short-eared Owl and Rough-legged Hawk Today

Rough-legged Hawk off Mount's Road today.

Bruce Labar and I headed for the McNeil Trail overlook onto the Pierce County side of the Nisqually River Delta this morning in hopes of seeing the Short-eared Owl(s) that Will Brooks located yesterday. I tried for this owl yesterday afternoon without luck, but because this species is a crepuscular hunter (hunts at dawn and dusk) we though maybe first thing in the morning might yield better success. We got there about 8 AM and it was light enough to see, and there was a very high tide, making the area to search somewhat reduced.

We scanned across the delta from the overlook, finding three Northern Harriers, a Red-tailed Hawk, several Bald Eagles, lots of ducks and gulls, but no owl for over an hour. The rain came and went, making viewing difficult when it rained as the rain effectively reduced visibility. During a somewhat clearer moment, I noted what looked like an owl-shaped bump on top of a half-buried tree trunk in the mudflats. We both mused over whether it was a bird or not at first, then whether it was an owl or a hawk. After about 5 minutes of watching it flapped its wings, showing blunt tipped wings with buff under-wing coloration, and we were confident it was our owl. After a bit more watching the owl took a short flight, again showing enough field marks for the ID, and finally flew out toward the river mouth where we lost sight of it for good. It didn't come back into our sight, and certainly no photos, but still a cool first of the year species for Pierce County for both of us.

The hawk flew away as I took photos, and this is the bird flying behind some tree branches

From here we went to Mount's Road. On the drive into the area we usually bird, I noted a hawk on a tree on the right side of the road just past the railroad underpass. We backed up and were happy to see our second Rough-legged Hawk in the last 2 weeks in the county. I did manage photos of this unusual county bird.
At the Mount's Road Turnout area the tide was exceptionally high, filling what is usually a marsh into a tidal salt-water filled estuary with lots of ducks, eagles, and little else.
We called it a day for birding as the rain continued, and we headed home each one bird richer on our Pierce County year list.
Good birding. Steem on!