Started the day with the Hawk Owl in Waterbury, it was perched along rt 100. We watched it catch a rodent, fly off with it in its bill, in flight it switched it to a talon and perched 30 ft from us. Slick move, Nice bird. Moved on to the valley to make an effort to catch and band  Redtails and Rough legs and hopefully see some Snowy Owls. First we encountered a small adult Red tail. Caught it and it was BANDED already. This is the second Redtail we have encountered in the valley in 26 years of trapping there. This bird was banded as an immature in Virginia in November of 1993, making it over 20 years old.... Holy Cow!  We banded a new redtail, an immature. 

Other birds:

1 Am Kestrel
31 Redtails
19 Roughlegs
1 Snowy Owl @~500 yards, a lucky scan. We searched for them in all the previously reported sites to no avail.
Snow bunting
Horned Larks
Lapland Longspurs
Bluebirds

Good day with mostly gray skies which really made the bird colors spectacular...especially the light phased Rough legs...

We met Bill Shepard and family along the way... too!

  

Dave Merker 
Etna, New Hampshire
Cape May Raptor Banding Project Inc.
www.capemayraptors.org





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