Great Day for Raptors

Yesterday I traveled south of Saskatoon in overcast & rainy conditions with 2 friends, for almost 2 hours. I had heard good things about Raptor sightings in between Rosetown & Elrose from my friend Marten and wanted to see for myself.
It was a long journey but very worthwhile !

Here's what was seen :

Red-tailed Hawk - 39 in total ! at one point there was a pair on a
power pole every 2 k or so. Stopping on the high highway was pretty scary , so we opted to just ID them as we were driving.

Rough-legged Hawk - my first of the year - 4 birds including a very dark phased individual.

American Kestrel - 5

Merlin - 1

Snowy Owl - 4 on the way home . Including a great look at a male.

Great Horned Owl - 2 on the way home

Western Meadowlark - new for the year . 5 birds including one singing
already.

American Robin - 1 at Harris.

American Tree Sparrow - 2

Mountain Bluebird - 1

European Starling - 35

Canada Goose - 150

Green-winged Teal - ( new for 2008 )1 male among many Northern Pintail

Northern Pintail ( new for 2008 ) - 65 + in a slough east of Elrose

Horned Lark - 9

American Crow - 12

Common Raven - 6

House Sparrow - 20

Here are a couple of photos :

Snowy Owl



Rough-legged Hawk - not the closest view. This handsome bird was way out in a field.



...and the first Western Meadowlark of 2008