Sunday afternoon, while returning to Arlington from our place in Shenandoah
County, we made a pit stop at Marshall. When we were getting back on I-66 at
the Rt 17 interchange, we spotted a large buteo sitting on a snag on the
southwest corner of the intersection. Our first reaction was Red-tail, as they
are
by far the most common large hawks along I-66 in winter, but something seemed
a bit "off". Fortunately, I was able to pull off onto the wide shoulder of the
on-ramp and get a look with binoculars. The bird was facing us, so we were
able to see only the underside and the sides of the head when it turned to
address the attending crows. The breast and belly were completely white with
no
discernible streaks or other marks. The tail was light or white and at that
distance and lighting, it did not appear to be banded. The head was dark with
a
hooded look, and there seemed to be just a bit of rufous-orange wash on the
throat. In size, the bird was certainly no smaller than a red-tail and had the
jizz of that species. We are not hawk experts, so it may well be just a
phase and/or age class of Red-tail that we don't normally encounter. The pure
white, unmarked undersides were the thing that most attracted our attention.
So,
if anyone else saw this bird--or finds it in the future--we'd be interested in
your thoughts.
Otherwise, we spent a long weekend on Cedar Creek, and this year I did not
compile a "tree-stand list" thanks to back trouble that kept me out of the
woods
except for a walk this morning. Our birds were mostly unremarkable, with
most of the usual winter species at our feeders, including Purple Finches and
Fox
Sparrows--both of which are fairly regular. The only noteworthy species was a
pair of Pine Siskins--our first of the year and a species that we don't get
every year.
Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving and saw lots of good birds in addition
to the large one that you ate!
Dave Davis
Arlington
