[Bristol-Birds] birding Burke's Garden
- From: "Wallace Coffey" <jwcoffey@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "Bristol-birds" <bristol-birds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 15 Jan 2006 00:02:55 -0500
Dave Worley and Wallace Coffey used field time on Friday, Jan. 13, to bird
Burke's Garden, Tazwell County, VA.
We enjoyed a good day for raptors. Red-tailed Hawks put on an amazing show for
hours and hours.
The weather was beautiful, sunny and we birded in our shirtsleves when the wind
was not blowing. We birded ahead of the approaching front and were gone and
nearly home by the time heavy rains settled in. The front began to arrive from
the south about 1:30 p.m. and the winds picked up. Raptors took to the air to
ride the winds.
Not far from the post office Dave noticed a large Red-tailed Hawk that was in a
field beside the road with a rabbit it had captured. Fur was blowing over a
wide area and the rabbit had been about half eaten. We flushed the hawk which
carried the hind portions of its prey to a fence post and later into the lower
branches of a nearby tree.
This is just one of eleven (11) Red-tails observed. Several were in pairs
either in spectacular breeding flights with extended talons are climbing high
to chase off an intruding Red-tailed which had flow into their airspace above
their territory.
A beautiful dark morph Rough-legged Hawk turned tight circles on a thermal at
close range in the sun, proudly displaying all the field marks anyone would
want.
We were disappointed when an apparent massive looking accipter was briefly
chased into view by crows well above us on the road along the backside of the
mill pond. The very long, narrow tail and lighter underparts were exciting.
While one of us ran to get a scope the other lost sight of the bird. Our brief
look showed either a white rump or white under tail coverts. The wings were
long and narrow. Both of us were convinced it was probably a Northern Goshawk
but the possiblity that it could have been a Northern Harrier was possible.
That one had to be left off our list.
Otherwise:
Common Raven 9
American Kestrel 5
Rock Dove 18
Common Crow 356
Eastern Bluebird 5
Europeal Starling 535
American Goldfinch 13
Yellow-rumped Warbler 2
Green-winged Teal 23
Mallard 33
Yellow-shafted Flicker 1
The warm temperature, higher pressure and sunshine made much of the earlier
part of our day fairly void of bird movement.
Let's go birding.....
Wallace Coffey
Bristol, TN
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