The Gray Ghost

I friend of mine told me about where a male Northern Harrier (the Gray Ghost) had been seen recently. The males are out numbered by the females by about 20 to 1 so it’s quite a treat to see one. We travelled to this unlikely location, a small area of grass and water in the very middle of the urban sprawl of the Tampa/St Pete area. Sure enough, after an hour wait, he showed up! And even better, he was on the side where the morning sun lit him up beautifully.

Walking in to where the Gray Ghost had been spotted, we saw a Northern Shrike sitting in a tree.

The Gray Ghost makes his appearance flying low over the grass, looking straight at me.

While it looks like he’s staring, he’s actually scanning left and right for movement below

Harriers hunt by hearing as well as vision.  That’s why they will turn their head in unusual looking ways

The bright white and gray colors of a male Northern Harrier 

Scanning over the low grass

Harriers glide low over grassy areas in search of food

Another glance over at us

While Harriers spend most of their day in flight, they do occasionally land

Staring and gliding while searching for food

Slightly different wing position

Gliding past 

He thought he saw something below and made a quick turn to check it out

Banking in great light

Gray Ghost

The sun really lights up the yellow eyes

While I’m not a fan of birds against just a blue sky, the lighting is really good on him…

…Same here, just with the wings down

Flying low and fast over the grass

In certain angles you can still see a little brown in the gray areas showing he’s a young adult

Getting down very low and flying behind the grass

That was an awesome morning! The light was great and the elusive Gray Ghost made several passes in front of us showing how beautiful and graceful the male Northern Harriers are.