FreeLists / va-bird / [va-bird] This week at White Oaks Park (Fairfax County)

[Breep@xxxxxxx]

The earliest phase of spring is wrapping up.  I haven't seen a golden-crowned 
kinglet, winter wren, or creeper all week, and junco numbers are way down.  
I'm still seeing sapsuckers almost every day.  I had 1 or 2 yellow-rumps, 
towhees, and ruby-crowned kinglets twice each this week, the first (and only) 
swift on Wednesday, thrashers singing the last three days, and today the 
first hermit thrush (the yellow-rumps and hermit thrush are migratory birds; 
I never see them in winter around Hollin Hills -- perhaps not enough 
berries).  I haven't found the red-shouldered hawk nest yet (not that I've 
looked very hard).

Most interesting behavior was a titmouse chasing a starling around.  Perhaps 
the starling was getting too close to his nest.  Even more interesting was 
when the starling retreated to the next tree, a red-belly got into the act, 
going after the starling so aggressively that they locked "talons" a few 
times and spiraled downward before braking off.

Good birding.

Ben Jesup
Alexandria, VA


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