FreeLists / bristol-birds / [Bristol-Birds] Stewart's Pond - Russell Co., VA / poss. Western Dark-morph Red-tailed Hawk - Buchanan Co., VA

["Ed Talbott" <etalbott@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Bristol Birders,

Michelle and I decided to stop by Stewart's Pond today after
hiking the Sugar Hill Loop at St. Paul, VA.  We found a few
shorebirds lurking around the edge of the pond:

Semipalmated Plover  [1]
Least Sandpiper  [1]
Spotted Sandpiper  [1]
Solitary Sandpiper  [5]
Killdeer  [5]

Mallards  [10]
Great Egret  [1]

We've also seen at least two different Osprey on the Levisa Fork
River this week in Buchanan County.

Also, we also spotted a very dark buteo circling over Grundy as
we stopped for lunch on Monday - Sept. 22nd.  We both grabbed our
binoculars and tracked this bird for about a minute.  The hawk
was overall solid black with lighter flight feathers (think TV).
When the hawk banked there was a hint of barring in the rectrices
with a slight reddish wash to the tail.  The overall impression
of the bird was of a Red-tailed and my first thought was a
Harlan's Hawk.  After I reviewed Brian Wheeler's Raptors of N.
America, and Michelle's contribution based on Sibley, we believe
the bird to be a Dark-morph Western Red-tailed Hawk.  Anyone have
any data on Western Red-tailed Hawks (calurus sub-species) in SW
Virginia and/or do Eastern Red-tailed Hawks get this dark?

Thanks,

Ed and Michelle Talbott
Grundy, VA


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