This morning I walked from the parking lot at Hwy 1 to the pond where I saw a juvenile Lesser Yellowlegs first reported there yesterday by Kirk Roth. It was foraging at the shallow western end of the pond. A juvenile Swainson’s Hawk was flying over the northern ridge with three Red-tailed Hawks as I walked back to the car. The number of raptors at Harmony Headlands State Park is impressive. In addition to the Swainson’s Hawk, I had a total of ten Red-tailed Hawks in view at one time and four juvenile Cooper’s Hawks at one time. This is surely due to the abundant rodents in the park.  After leaving the park I drove north toward Harmony, but stopped once to look through the ten or so more raptors flying overhead.

Yesterday morning, I birded the park with Pat and Ann Vaughan. We saw at least one White-tailed Kite, 5 juvenile Northern Harriers, 6 juvenile Cooper’s Hawks, and 6 Red-tailed Hawks (4 juveniles). My previous visit here last Monday I also had an immature and juvenile Bald Eagle and a juvenile Golden Eagle and Kirk Roth reported a Prairie Falcon. And, 2-5 Common Ravens now seem to be resident here. Definitely worth a visit if you want to see a variety of raptors.

http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S38644060

Tom Edell

Cayucos, CA