Goldfinch and Harrier

An area of restored grasslands along the river contains extensive areas planted to warm season grasses and prairie wildflowers. Among the wildflowers are purple coneflower, gaillardia and giant sunflower; the giant sunflower lives up to its name, often growing over eight feet tall with bright yellow flowers –

 

Never have I found any of those wildflowers growing wild in northcentral Pennsylvania, only in areas such as this where they’ve been planted. Did they grow in the meadows that developed following Native Americans’ slash and burn agriculture?

In any event, it’s winter now and the flowers of summer are long gone to seed. It’s those seeds that attract American goldfinch to the abundant tall dried stalks of the giant sunflower that were swaying in the wind –

 

As I inched closer to the flock of goldfinch they took flight and were quickly lost from of sight. So I continued my walk through the grassland without the expectation of seeing anything else of interest.

It wasn’t long before a female or immature harrier came into sight, quartering above the tall grass in its search for a vole or small bird –

 

The hawk suddenly dropped from view and remained lost in the grass for quite some time. Finally it emerged and flew to a large dead snag where it proceeded to eat its meal, too far away to allow me to see whether it was feeding on a mammal or a bird –

The remainder of my walk in the grassland was without any sightings of interest.