FreeLists / va-bird / [va-bird] Close encounter in C'ville

[Brenda Tekin <bt8x@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Close Encounter in Charlottesville - A very near miss..

At 4:26 p.m. while traveling east on Rt.250 bypass along the western edge 
of Charlottesville city limit on my way home after spending the day at the 
hawk watch, I had just passed Fontaine Ave. when a large bird came up from 
right shoulder, below eye level, gaining altitude.  My first reaction was 
verbal before I eased up on accelerator as it flew directly in front of the 
van at eye level, gaining altitude but so close I thought surely we were 
going to collide. Upper body buteo-like except for the long tail, slate 
blue back with darker head, and the pale eyebrow, it was that close -- an 
adult Northern Goshawk!   A very powerful flyer, it gained enough altitude 
to avoid a collision and continued across the highway, disappearing into a 
grove of trees.

On a down note, a Red-tailed Hawk was not so fortunate today as it 
attempted to fly over I-64 near the hawk watch at Rockfish Gap.


Brenda Tekin
Charlottesville, VA

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