VA Birders,
I decided to go to Fort C.F. Smith Park, Arlington Co., this morning both
to get some exercise and to check what birds were around before our NVBC bird
walk there on Saturday. As I drove into the parking lot, I saw a raptor
perched at the top of a tree to the right of the back corner of the parking
lot.
When I checked it out with my binoculars, it appeared to be a Merlin. Then,
just to make sure I knew who it was, the bird flew across the parking lot to
the street and back to its perch so I could see its pointed falcon wings and
its
steady wingbeat! The bird was still sitting there when I finally left to
check the rest of the park.
In fact, the Merlin sat there while I walked around the corner to the
back of the parking lot to see if any birds were along the gravel road/path
which
goes down the hill into the woods. I saw a few Song Sparrows, and then
another bird popped up which I thought was going to be the kinglet we had seen
there yesterday. To my astonishment, I quickly realized the bird was an
Orange-crowned Warbler! I got excellent looks at it, including its broken
eye-ring and
yellow undertail coverts, and I saw it again later, after walking around the
park, as it flew over my head and across the path to the area between the
parking lot and the Bird Stream. I was hoping it would come to the stream, but
it
did not while I was watching it. I hope this bird will stay around, but as
we know, there are no guarantees where birds are concerned!
Val Kitchens
Arlington, VA
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