A Northern Harrier and a Crow Spar over the Beaver Pond

A female Northern Harrier coming in low near the beaver pond

There has been some interesting activity around the beaver ponds lately and this time it doesn't involve the beavers. The action was provoked by the presence of a female Northern Harrier. The Harrier is just one of several species of raptor that have been stopping by the nature preserve as they migrate south. This particular bird was hunting at one of the beaver dams. Hunting there can be pretty lucrative since small rodents live in and travel through the many nooks and crannies in the dam's structure. This Harrier is not the first raptor to notice the dam's potential. This time, however, it looked like a family of resident crows didn't appreciate the Harrier's interest, but their interaction with her hardly seemed very serious. It was more like the kind of sparring seen between sibling hawks. In other words, it was more like play.

The Harrier makes a commotion over the beaver dam

The harrier's attention is fixed on detecting the slightest movement on the ground

Hearing is enhanced by a facial disk - outlined by a light ring of feathers around the face

Coming back in to the beaver dam

Stirring up some mayhem with one of the crows

That got her attention

The Harrier is a bit larger than the crow, but is able to match some of its maneuverability

The course of the pursuit changes direction frequently

The Harrier is deliberately laying back - obviously the intent is not to catch or even to strike the crow

These 2 birds are just in it for the fun

The crow pulls in its wings and goes into a dive - the Harrier puts on the air brakes

The crow plummets, but the Harrier stays on target

Closing the gab quickly this time

The crow inverts and begins to peruse the Harrier

This time the Harrier begins to go into a dive 

Not to be outdone by the crow, the Harrier executes a complete inversion 

The crow is back in pursuit - the Harrier lays back and allows her to catch up

The crow does a dive complete with a back flip

The Harrier returns to hunting 

The white patch at the base of the Harrier's tail is an excellent field mark

Taking a needed rest after a long play session