parabuteo (from para, near, and buteo, hawk) unicinctus (from unus, one, and cinctus, girdled)
Wednesday, April 4, 1984 — 7:00 pm, just a few minutes after the sun dipped below the horizon
Saguaro National Monument, Arizona — West Unit
My mom, my wife and I drove to the West Unit of Saguaro.
We drove around a bit, looking at the saguaros, then sat in a picnic shelter on a small rise and took in the sights and smells of a desert sunset.
As we were driving slowly toward the park entrance, I spotted a Harris’s Hawk perched on top of a saguaro in a thick stand. I set up my scope inside the van and got a good look. The hawk was scraggly looking, like it was molting, and it had almost no feathers on its head. It sat looking around for a few minute, then flew off out of sight.