This is an example of the commonality of the Northern Goshawk (NG): you have seen NG; your friends have seen NG; your neighbors have seen NG. If you do not have confidence separating accipiters from falcons,and falcons from the Harrier, then what is the outcome? And what if your friend has no interest in raptors? Here are 3 examples of the outcome: the bird is misidentified; the bird is identified correctly; the bird is not identified, for whatever reason.
Of my 1,000 daily- sightings of NG, less than 1% are of perched NG, and less than 1% are of NG passing through, in migration.
Suggestion: you should adhere to the publication, "Hawks in Flight", by Pete Dunne et. al.
2 comments:
The problem is not with other peoples' interest or skills Nelson. The problem is that you yourself appear to have a problem distinguishing between the three accipiter species. Your false confidence that many of the accipiters you observe are goshawks is unscientific, as is your dismissal of everyone else's opinion.
Nelson - I share your interest in Northern Goshawks. They are amazing birds. I have been a falconer for many years and currently fly one. However, it is very, very unlikely that any NG are in or anywhere near Mission Bay. They may occasionally visit or even nest (there are historical records) in the mountains near Julian, but even that is a rarity. Goshawks are shy forest dwellers that detest warm temperatures. If you see a large accipiter in Mission Bay, it is most definetly a Cooper's hawk, not NG. I would be interested in recent sightings in the lower San Bernardino mountains. Best of luck.
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