In search of more Roughies

Last Thursday my friend Paul and I left school at the 3:20 bell and headed out to check out some possible nest sites in the area and look for some of the Rough-legged hawks that have been almost common this winter. (We are going to lead and after school class about birding and raptors and were doing some "scouting".)  We headed east of Lafayette and then north on 119th and County Line roads, through Erie and finally north on Kenosha and Lookout to 109th before heading home.  The first nest site is within walking distance from school but I have not seen any specific activity on the nest yet, nor was there anything going on there today.  We soon saw a couple of Red Tails perched on high posts and trees.  Not too far down the road we saw a bird on a post and stopped on the narrow roadway to get a look.  It spooked easily and moved a few times, but never too far away. We could never get that for sure deciding look that confirmed it for us but am fairly certain it was a male Roughie.  Not too much farther was another similar looking bird that flew away before we got a good look.  The light was fading and we kept going.  We saw over a dozen birds, mostly likely Red Tails with a few possible Roughies, so a great hour long impromptu outing, before Paul turned east on Jasper to head home.  As I continued South on 109th I came upon a beautiful juvie Roughie (I think really the easiest one to identify) perched on one of those low posts very close to the road.  I tried to get a picture on my phone to send to Paul but the light was not quite sufficient.  As I made my way home, I saw two more Red Tails, likely staking out a nearby nest behind Arapahoe Ridge off the dirt 111th.