FreeLists / va-bird / [va-bird] Juvenile NORTHERN HARRIER at Pocahontas State Park

[WEalding@xxxxxxx]

The highlight of John Coe's Second Wednesday Walk at Pocahontas State Park  
was a juvenile NORTHERN HARRIER.  The bird was seen hunting over the Beaver  
Lake, which is a shallow lake that is rapidly becoming vegetated due to the  
accumulation of silt from runoff.  The park is otherwise heavily  forested.  
Much 
of the lake was frozen.  The bird picked up a prey  item from the grassy 
vegetation in the lake and landed among the grass to eat  it.
 
Other highlights were an immature RED-HEADED WOODPECKER,  and a  NORTHERN 
FLICKER that we spooked out of a tree cavity about a foot off the  ground.
 
Species seen:
 
Great Blue Heron
Canada Goose
Mallard
Northern Harrier
Red-tailed Hawk
 
Killdeer
Red-headed Woodpecker - immature
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker
Downy Woodpecker
 
Flicker
Pileated Woodpecker
Blue Jay
American Crow
Carolina Chickadee
 
Titmouse
White-breasted Nuthatch
Carolina Wren
Winter Wren
Golden-crowned Kinglet
 
Hermit Thrush
Song Sparrow
Junco
Cardinal
 
Wendy  Ealding
Chesterfield County