FreeLists / va-bird / [va-bird] Merlin and Cooper's at Fairlington (Arlington)

[Steve Johnson <stevejohnson2@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Here's the sequence of events I saw at the Fairlington Community Center 
today (Saturday) in Arlington.  I must have just missed Mr. Schreck (I 
quoted his message at the bottom, below).

Arrived 3:45 PM.  No birds in any of the oak trees.  4:00 PM  Cooper's 
Hawk flies in and lands on the tallest oak next to the building on the 
West side (not closest to the playground).  Walked around to get a 
better view of the front, the bird flew away, I lost sight of it, then 
saw it perched on the side of the previously described tall oak on the 
North side (between building and playground, towards 32nd Street).  Got 
in front of it, aimed the spotting scope, and then - woosh!!  The Merlin 
was right on schedule, came in from the south (as previously described), 
and flew into the right tree at 4:10 PM.  This bird is like clockwork.  
One other birder and I watched for a few minutes, then I went and picked 
up my daughter and returned around 5 PM.  Merlin was perched in the same 
place (top of the oak); but the Cooper had, well, I guess it had flown 
the coop.

It was great viewing the Merlin in the same tree at the same time as the 
Cooper's.  The other gentleman and I were close enough to judge the 
birds' sizes without optical aid, and the Coop was pretty easy to ID 
based on size (definitely an accipiter, and clearly too large to be a 
Sharpie).  The Merlin was clearly smaller.

When it first perched, the Cooper's fanned out both wings and its tail.  
The tail was more fanned out than any raptor's tail I've ever seen.  
Single tail feathers were well separated laterally.  Later, when the 
Merlin showed up, both birds looked much more composed.  The Merlin was 
atop the oak, about 20 feet diagonally above the Cooper's.  They didn't 
seem to pay much attention to each other.  As Gary Larson put it, "Birds 
of prey know they're cool."

Later, my daughter noted the white ruff of fine feathers just under the 
Merlin's beak, which "poofed out" a little like a small white goatee.  A 
life bird for her, and only the 2nd time for me.  Neither bird was banded.

- Steve Johnson
Fairfax, VA


Alan Schreck wrote:

I saw the Merlin in Fairlington about 3:35 this afternoon; I was stopped 
on Quaker Lane heading north at the King street intersection and the 
bird flew out of the large tree on the NW corner.

Good Birding,
Alan Schreck





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