Harlan's X Western/Eastern Red-tailed Hawk and Northern Harrier in McLean County

Monday, October 21, on my way to work, I stopped at the Gridley Wastewater Treatment Ponds, where I had a decent variety of waterfowl, including Canada Goose, Mallard, Northern Shoveler, Green-winged Teal, Ring-necked Duck, Bufflehead, and Ruddy Duck. Here are a couple of shots of the Bufflehead.





There were also about 12 American Pipits on the rocks around the ponds, and a Northern Harrier was flying around in the field on the east side of the east fence.







Friday morning, October 25, on my way to work, I saw this raptor on highway 29 about a mile South of Merwin Nature Preserve on a telephone pole, but it took off and started soaring due West before I could get a photo of it on the pole. I believed it was a dark morph Western Red-tailed Hawk, transitioning from juvenile into adult plumage, but Matt Fraker helped correct my identification of this bird. It is actually a Harlan's/Western-Eastern Red-tailed Intergrade.