[Bristol-Birds] Sandhill Crane, Rough-legged Hawk, Washington Co., TN

Monday, December 08, 2003
Keebler Rd., Washington Co., TN
D. Holt

     While on my continuing search for Lapland Longspurs this afternoon, I 
saw a Rough-legged Hawk fly over a bit above treetop level.  It looked like a 
dark form adult female, as illustrated in The Sibley Guide to Birds, pg. 125, 
except the underside of the body was lighter, and the underside of the tail was 
darker.  Underneath, the dark carpal patches and dark belly band were 
noticeable, but not much if any white at the base of the tail.  The upperside 
and head 
were all dark.  The bird landed in a tree a few hundred yards away near the 
Tri-state Equipment barn for a few minutes, where I was able to observe it with 
a Meade ETX-125 telescope at 73X,  but the view was not favorably lighted, 
the sun being behind the bird.  It was last seen circling over the Nolichucky 
River beyond the barn.
     As I was starting to leave, I saw a tall bird in the corn stubble field 
at the intersection of Keebler Rd. and Smith Bridge Rd.  It was a Sandhill 
Crane.  I put the scope on it and looked deep into his(?) beady orange eyes, as 
he was staring straight back at me.  He had fresh dirt on his beak, and seemed 
to be alone.  He stayed there while I searched through a flock of Horned Larks 
for Lapland Longspurs (unsuccessfully), and he was still there when I left an 
hour or so later at 4:30.  He was partly to mostly hidden by a rise in the 
terrain, but he was actually very close to the road, and seemed unconcerned 
with 
traffic going by.
     Other neat birds seen in the area were American Pipits and Savannah 
Sparrows at the "dickcissel field" near the intersection of Old State Route 34 
and 
Taylor Mill Rd.( ? I think that is the correct name of the road.).  They were 
bathing in a puddle in a driveway about twenty feet from the road. I also saw 
a Northern Harrier, American Kestrels, several Red-tailed Hawks, and a flock 
of possibly ten thousand European Starlings (a most beautiful sight going 
through maneuvers, poetry in motion).
     Unfortunately, I failed to find the Greater White-fronted Geese at 
Westview Pond reported by Don Miller.

Don Holt
Johnson City, TN
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