Ha Ha! The women who put that list together is well known in the bay area for growing/trying many fruits. She even has a strain of passiflora edulis named after her. Probably a typo.. Santa Clara valley was full of cherries/plums/apricots before it became Silicon Valley. All stone fruit grows great here unless its really high chill.

Hey scorpgirl My local raptor watch group has been counting migrating raptors since August. Anyone can show up at the watch and help spot the birds. Binoculars sure do help, though not necessary. Having people there to help you identify the birds so you know what you're looking at is also nice. The count is then submitted to HMANA. http://hawkcount.org/ You may be able to find a count near you at this site. Everyone here says that in New Jersey the place to be for migration is Cape May. We are known here as a good place for spotting golden eagles- but you have to dress real warm if you want to see them. They migrate Nov. -Dec. Here is a link that might be useful: hawkcount

You had it right the first time! It is an Osprey. The facial markings are unique to this species. A White-tailed Kite is significantly smaller than an Osprey (15 in versus 23 in) and, whereas it has black around its eyes, does not have this heavy dark line over the eye and down the neck (as the Osprey has). Also, that long neck is Osprey (WTKI has a short stubby neck). The all dark wings leading down to a dark tail also differ from the WTKI. And look at the size of that bill! That is for eating fish (and the WTKI has a smaller hooked bill for insects and small mammals). I also see the Osprey's characteristic yellow iris here (WTKI has red). The slight markings on the chest of this Osprey indicate it may be a juvenile. That may be what looked different about it. Glad to have a raptor question to answer! It's been slow around here!

I see no orange on this bird, either. I thought, first thing, "Crested Caracara," then "Northern Goshawk," based on its overall coloring and the habitat. The habitat seems wrong for a Caracara, but we had one visiting us in redwood country not long ago, eating at several deer carcasses along Highway One and the bird appeared several weeks later (assuming it was the same one) in Oregon. . . While a Northern Goshawk *would* be feathered farther down on the legs, take a closer look at this photo, then turn to page 190 in the NGFG, and check out the feathering on the legs of the Goshawk (imm) in the painting: the feathers are farther down, yes, but they are sweeping back, as in the bird in the photo. A Northern Goshawk *would* go after prey as large as a squirrel. I sincerely doubt a Cooper's would take prey that large. . .