Hello, birders.
On the way back from Sky Meadows today, I stopped by
the North Fork Wetlands in western Prince William Co.,
hoping to see the Rough-legged Hawks that were
recently reported there. A few other birders showed
up soon after, I unfortunately didn't get their names.
The highlight was definitely the ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK.
We got great bino and scope views.
Birding from the pull off at the North Fork Wetlands
sign, I had:
-Great Blue Heron, 1
-Canada Goose, about 100 in view but there were
probably twice that hidden in the marsh grass
-Mallard, 3
-Hooded Merganser, 3
-No. Harrier, 3 females
-Cooper's Hawk, 1
-R.t. Hawk, 1
-ROUGH-LEGGED HAWK, 1 light-phase
This bird looked similar to the light-phase female in
Sibley but also was similar to the immature in
Peterson's hawk guide
-Wilson's Snipe, 4
-Rock Pigeon, a few on the silo across the way
-Mourning Dove, 1
-Yel.-bel. Sapsucker, 1
-B. Jay, at least a few (heard only, not sure how
many)
crow sp., 1
-E. Meadowlark, about 10
-blackbird sp.?, possibly one mixed in with
meadowlarks
It was a chilly 38 degrees F and fairly calm. The
calm before the storm.
At Sky Meadows (Fauquier Co.) it was pretty quiet. I
walked from the Visitor Center to the Appalachian
Trail and back, by the way of the South Ridge Trail.
There were lots of sparrows, mostly Song and
White-throated. My car spooked a Kestrel on a way out
of the park on Edmonds Rd. A Winter Wren kip-kipped
from the forest floor on the South Ridge Trail, a
place where I don't remember having one before. It
was no doubt attracted to the new habitat of lots of
fallen timber created by Hurricane Isabel.
Scott Baron
Fairfax, Va.
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