Thursday evening I stopped by Grover's Lake in Dickinson county. While scanning the water I discovered an immature Northern Harrier up to its belly with its talons sunk into a mat of vegetation. The harrier stayed in place for the longest time looking down at the water and up and around. Finally, it lifted up and brought a drowned Pied-billed Grebe out of the water but only managed to move a few yards before dropping back into the water holding the grebe. That same effort was repeated twice more and then the harrier lost its grip as it tried to once more lift and carry. The bird circled around and came back onto the grebe carcass, sinking under its weight. After unsuccessfully tearing at the prey with its beak the harrier again tried to lift it from the water. Its grip was weak and let go. The harrier circled several slow times and then peeled off to go find a perch for the night. If it could only contemplate capturing more than one can carry!
This morning after record cold overnight a group of five types of shorebirds became icebirds as they stood on one leg or skated across the ice at Dan Green Slough waiting for warmth and water to return. One Yellow-headed Blackbird and a handful of Great-tailed Grackles were part of a big flock of icy icterids. Lee A. Schoenewe Spencer --- Please contribute your sightings to our list; it is only as good as members make it! --- Birding channel recommendation for FRS/GMRS radio use: Primary selection; channel 5/0 , alternate selection; channel 6/0 --- This mailing list is sponsored by the Iowa Ornithologists' Union. Membership available on-line at http://www.iowabirds.org/iou/PayDues.aspx. ----- You are currently subscribed to ia-bird as: [email protected]
