Broad-winged, Arapahoe

[Mary Kay Waddington]

I wasn't going to report this because so many people saw so many Broad-wings yesterday (Apr 18), but perhaps this helps round out the picture of what was going on.  At noon there must have been some wonderful thermals going on because I saw 4 Red-tails, 2 Coopers, and an Osprey.  They were all circling, not flying North, and the Osprey (very high up) had a large fish in its talons!  And I'm miles from any large lake.  It circled for at least 20 minutes before heading off to the west.  Then I turned around and saw a beautiful Broad-winged flying over, spreading its tail to give me great looks at the bands, circling a couple times.  What a a treat!  Only the second I'd ever seen at my yard.  I'm quite a ways east of the usual Dakota Hogback flyway, so interesting to see a lone Broad-winged, not obviously flying North.  8 raptors of 4 species at one time in Englewood is very unusual.

Mary Kay Waddington