Allie Guidry and I led the Northern Virginia Bird Club sponsored walk at
Arlington County's Long Branch Nature Center today. The number of birds
tallied today is not as interesting as the encounter a young female Cooper's
hawk had with a squirrel today. This normally bird eating accipiter
skillfully maneuvered around a tree trunk in numerous unsuccessful attempts
to attack the squirrel. The bird was not successful in its attempt to obtain
the squirrel, but it certainly gave the group a workshop on how those short
broad wings can be used to fly in and through a wooded area. Honorable
mention goes to the audible Brown Creepers heard along the stream near the
Nature Center. Sparrow Pond produced my first Hermit Thrush and Swamp
Sparrow of the fall.
Long Branch Nature Center - CGF15, Arlington, Virginia, US Nov 4, 2015 8:30
AM - 11:00 AM
Protocol: Traveling
1.2 mile(s)
26 species (+1 other taxa)
Cooper's Hawk 1 A juvenile female Cooper's Hawk put on quite a show as
this normally bird eating accipiter chased a Gray Squirrel around the trunk
of a tree for almost 5 minutes much to the amazement of the walk's
participants. The Cooper's skillfully flew tight circles around the tree as
it made numerous unsuccessful attempts to secure the squirrel. The bird then
abandoned the effort and flew toward the stream in a likely search for more
suitable avian prey.
Red-tailed Hawk 2
Red-bellied Woodpecker 5
Downy Woodpecker 4
Hairy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker 8
Pileated Woodpecker 3
Blue Jay 20
American Crow 1
Fish Crow 1
crow sp. 3
Carolina Chickadee 18
Tufted Titmouse 8
White-breasted Nuthatch 3
Brown Creeper 2
Carolina Wren 5
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 2
Hermit Thrush 2
American Robin 10
Yellow-rumped Warbler 1
White-throated Sparrow 6
Song Sparrow 6
Swamp Sparrow 1
Eastern Towhee 1
Northern Cardinal 12
House Finch 2
American Goldfinch 9
View this checklist online at
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S25699778
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (http://ebird.org)
Larry Cartwright
prowarbler@xxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:prowarbler@xxxxxxxxxxx>
