Soon after the lights came on at 9 tonight the sky over the tower buildings
at Tysons began to fill up with nighthawks. Though different than last
night, it was a very good show indeed. Much of the time there were 30 or
more birds flying around, some very high and some much lower affording
excellent looks. By about 9:15, I was standing in the front lot by the
buildings and Larry Meade was standing next to me .Another birder was
standing further back in the lot. I looked up and saw a generally
nighthawk size bird that had no bars on the bottom of the wings. I asked
Larry if he had seen it and he said no. About then it came back and I said,
"there it is." Larry said, "that's a hawk." The bird came back around
and flew almost directly overhead for us to see. One of us said "it looks
like a peregrine." The bird then made a pass after a nighthawk . It missed
, turned around again and flew back over us and out of sight . Larry and I
both had good look the second time and we both thought it was peregrine
falcon for sure. The size, color and shape were just right and the pass on
the nighthawk fit as well. The other birder said he had not seen the
bird. A couple of other birders came for awhile later in the hour. The
peregrine never came back again. Perhaps it was one of the pair that has
been hanging around the nearby America Legion bridge. All-in-all, it was a
very interesting night with the nighthawks. One just never knows what one
may see.
--
Donald Sweig
Falls Church, Va.
