All,
Around 3:30 this afternoon, I was driving a group of students back from
an ecology field trip when a bird caught my eye. I was traveling east
on Braddock Road and was approaching the intersection with the Fairfax
County Parkway and the bird was sailing by heading south along the
Fairfax County Parkway. It was light and had very long swept back wings
and an extremely long tail. My first impression was Swallow-tailed Kite
but I immediately tried to talk my into something else as that seemed
unlikely. I tried to convince myself it was a Northern Harrier but that
just wasn't adding up. Fortunately the light turned red and we had to
stop. I pointed the bird out to several of the students who could see
out the windows and we watched as it suddenly banked and circled. The
long split tail streamers and black upper coverts were easily seen even
without binoculars as the bird banked towards us and circled away. The
light changed then and I had to move on. I don't recall seeing the
underside of the bird but I didn't need to. There was no mistaking what
it was. Wow.
Sue
--
Susan A. Heath
George Mason University
Environmental Science Department
Fairfax, VA
Secretary, Virginia Avian Records Committee
Keeper, Virginia Comp List at www.virginiabirding.org
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