This evening a bird glided from out of nowhere..( or more specifically from a line of trees in my back yard) only a foot or so over the ground, over a distance of maybe 40 feet where it disappeared around the corner of my house. In the brief seconds that I watched it, it didnt' flap its wings at all.. it was beginning to get dark outside, but I distinctly saw a white patch on it's rump. It seemed to be a darkish slate gray on its back and wings, but the light was not great. My impression was that it was about the size, and had similar wing shape to a nighthawk, though maybe not as sharply pointed or angled. Maybe it was the size of a crow, but wings were more narrow.. and obviously was not because of the white rump patch.
I've been looking up raptor like birds with white rump patches that might live around here. It definitely wasn't a flicker, and I don't THINK it was a marsh hawk, harrier. That sounds too big and too long tailed.. and it's not that big of an area. There aren't that many bird species in Vermont, and I don't live near the water. It's more of a forest, with a small wetland type area with black willow and cattails.. but it's not really a bog or marsh or swamp (I think it is an official Wetland, though) ( Not wet enough to have herons or bitterns or ducks)
Any ideas anyone?
