One Soggy Northern Harrier!

By now you have probably surmised that I spend a great deal of time at the Gilbert Water Ranch in Gilbert, Arizona, USA. This is true. As a bird photographer I do have dreams of visiting some far away, tropical location and filling compact flash card after compact flash card with exotic species bearing equally exotic names. OK, back to reality. There is much to be gained by repeatedly photographing birds in locations close to my home. I feel I gain a special intimacy into, and knowledge of, the daily lives of our local birds.

One such species I repeatedly encounter at the Gilbert Water Ranch is a pair of Northern Harriers. These hawks are beautiful birds and can be observed gliding around the edges of the water containment ponds searching for their next meal of waterfowl or shorebird. Although I have observed them to be rather efficient hunters, occasionally they do miss their prey and end up taking a good dunking in one of the ponds. This female Northern Harrier just can't believe her bad fortune!