Western Marsh-Harrier
Circus aeruginosus

25 January 2004
Laguna Cartegena, Puerto Rico
video capture of footage by Rafy Rodriguez

On 14 January 2004 I was birding with John Faaborg, Wes Bailey, Courtney Kerns, and Kelly Gamble. We spotted an unusual raptor flying over the lake spooking the waterfowl. None of us could identify the bird, but I took some notes in the field. With help I was able to identify our mystery bird as a female Western Marsh-Harrier, a species endemic to the Old World. On 25 January 2004 Rafy Rodriquez obtained a short clip of video footage of what he later realized was the same bird we had found eleven days earlier. If accepted by the American Ornithologists' Union, this would constitute the only the third record, and second documented record, of this species for the Western Hemisphere.

You can watch the original video (mpg, 950 Kb) or see captured images from it below. The comments on the first photo were added by Pedro Rodriguez.

All images are copyrighted by Rafy Rodriguez, all rights reserved