I stopped at Harrison Road (The Plains, Fauquier County) around dusk.
Initially all I could see were three Red-tailed Hawks perched around the
periphery of the fields. I was about to give up for the evening when I
noticed that one of the Red-tailed Hawks was being harassed from above. It
was a Short-eared Owl. I watched as it made several more passes at the hawk
and then flew off across the fields.
Also present were a single Yellow-rumped Warbler that flew up to investigate
my car, and a single Savannah Sparrow feeding along the edge of the road. I
caught glimpses of the big blackbird flock that seems to be hanging around
the cornfield at the corner of Harrison and Old Tavern Roads. I have seen
this flock on several days this week and it is predominantly Common Grackles
and Red-winged Blackbirds. The times I have been close enough to study
individual birds I have not been successful in finding any Cowbirds or
Rusties, but in a flock with thousands of birds one would think there would
be at least a smattering of the other species or even something rarer.
Dave Larsen
Haymarket
