(Posted by Jason Frank <jmfran...@gmail.com> via moumn.org) In the past couple of days, I've noticed quite a few Rough-Legged Hawks showing up in western Yellow Medicine and Lac qui Parle Counties, and also Deuel and Grant Counties, along the SD border. My count for today was 6 live individuals, and I have a second-hand report of another just west of Dawson along Hwy 212.
Unfortunately, I also found a dead specimen, which had been crucified on a wire fence at the entrance to a public SNA. It had been shot repeatedly. These birds, of course, frequent public lands with good habitat in search of small rodents. This being pheasant opener, it wasn't hard for me to imagine some guy (or group of guys) blaming the dismal pheasant numbers in this region on the recent influx of (mostly migratory) raptors. I took the bird off the fence and brought it down into the fen for a proper funeral. Jason Frank Lac qui Parle ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
