Rough-leggedHawks in Wet Mtn Valley

Yesterday I had a conservation related meeting in Westcliffe so I got in some birding in the Wet Mountain Valley (where Westcliffe is located) afterward. It was a gorgeous spring day with temps almost reaching 60 F there which is quite good for the 7,000+ foot elevation of the area.

I was delighted to watch this Rough-legged Hawk hop off a fence to grab a small mammal in a field. After it consumed the little critter, it flew off and landed onto the pole in top pic. After posing for some pictures it flew off again and flushed another Rough-legged Hawk off the next transmission pole. (See this beautiful hawk up close and personal by double-clicking on the top pic--it has such good quality that it will enlarge again nicely)

As I watched it fly, a third Rough-legged Hawk flew nearby. As I drove around the valley I saw several more Rough-legged Hawks but there is no way to know if they were all additional hawks or some I had already seen. Whether there were only the three I saw together or as many as a possible 6 hawks, those numbers are all good for the relatively small area in the Wet Mountain Valley.

The last pic shows the Wet Mountain Valley with the Sangre de Christo Mountains in the background. This is a handsome agricultural valley, with a wealth of water that comes from run-off of nearby mountain snows. SeEtta