VA BIRDers,
An apparent light-phase male Rough-legged Hawk was seen by Rich Rieger and I
north of Montesor Rd, Rt 661, west of Rt 15 today at about 1 pm. This area
is north of Leesburg and south of Lucketts in Loudoun Co.
The bird was in close proximity to 4 No. Harriers. All were foraging over a
couple of fields (ca. 100 acres) which appeared to have rich herbaceous
content. At one point, a female harrier came up and interacted with the
Rough-legged Hawk.
Let me add that today was very good for hawk watching, esp. near the ridge
lines. We observed several birds that appeared to be migrating north. For
the case of No. Harriers, 1 male/female pair was observed moving north near
Lucketts and another pair was observed flying north through Banshee-Reeks
Park in the morning. Along the ridge line north and south of Rt 7 near Round
Hill, approx. 8 pairs of Red-tailed Hawks were observed moving north in the
afternoon.
The hawk totals were (mainly Loudoun Co):
Bald Eagle 4 (3 adult)
No. Harrier 12
Sharp-shinned Hawk 4
Cooper's Hawk 1
Red-shouldered Hawk 7
Red-tailed Hawk 42
Rough-legged Hawk 1
Am. Kestrel 4
Also notable were (1) the gull flight, dominated by Ring-billed Gulls. We
noted ca. 600, most were seen near the ridge line flying NW and (2) the
blackbird movement with over 2000 observed for both Red-winged Blackbirds and
Common Grackles.
Lastly, 3 Tree Swallows were noted over the Dulles Wetlands (mitigation
project) late this afternoon. And, for the American Woodcock fans, this
morning we observed 2 displaying on Pleasant Valley Rd, Fairfax Co., near
Cox's Farm and 2 displaying on Bull Run Post Office Rd, Fairfax Co, near the
field that often has Short-eared Owls.
Kurt Gaskill
You are subscribed to VA-BIRD. To post to this mailing list, simply send email
to va-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx. To unsubscribe, send email to
va-bird-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field.
