I saw and/or heard 30 common species during 3-1/2 hours at Manassas
Battlefield this morning. Best birds (for me) were my first EASTERN
PHOEBE this year, and a gorgeous full adult COOPER'S HAWK. Here's the
complete list, including some redundant entries for the 2 locations I
visited. There were incessant small groups (sometimes 1 or 2, more
typically 10-20) of red-winged blackbirds overhead, all flying north.
The ranger lady told me it was too early in the year for warblers at the
New York Monuments, but I didn't pass that on to the yellow-rumps I saw
in the pines near the creek at NY Monuments.
One question for all you raptor experts. I got a long look at a raptor
circling over a field, flying very steadily in the stiff wind. I was
thinking Northern Harrier, but it was circling, not going over the field
in straight lines; and it was flying much higher than the Harriers
usually do. As it turned several times, I got several good looks at it
from above. It did not show the normal Harrier white band across the
upper part of the tail. Instead, it had very striking white sides to
the upper part of the tail. These white sides did not seem to extend
all the way to the tip of the tail. Fairly bland underwings - no strong
markings, no dark outer leading tips like a Red-Tail.
Unfortunately it was too far away, then gone, before I could see any
more. Just one other impression - it seemed to have a fairly stout body
- nowhere near an owl, but more like a buteo than a Northern Harrier. I
really couldn't gage the size - bigger than a merlin or sharpie, but
that's all I could say. I doubt that it was an accipiter or falcon,
because I would probably have noticed the tail shape. The wings were
bent most of the time, probably because of the strong wind, so I
couldn't get a good silhouettte shape of the wings.
Any ideas? Thanks.
- Steve Johnson
Fairfax, VA
"Sparrow Alley" (next to the law enforcement offices / stables / private
residence parking area):
50 Canada Goose
2 Mallard
5 Turkey Vulture
1 Cooper's Hawk
1 Red-shouldered Hawk
2 Mourning Dove
4 Red-bellied Woodpecker
3 Downy Woodpecker
2 Northern Flicker
1 Eastern Phoebe
20 Blue Jay
30 American Crow
1 Fish Crow
5 Carolina Chickadee
5 Carolina Wren
5 American Robin
4 Northern Mockingbird
4 European Starling
4 Field Sparrow
6 Song Sparrow
3 White-throated Sparrow
40 Dark-eyed Junco
15 Northern Cardinal
120 Red-winged Blackbird (mostly migrating overhead)
New York Monuments (at the creek near the loop at the end of New York
Avenue):
1 Black Vulture
2 Turkey Vulture
2 Red-bellied Woodpecker
1 Downy Woodpecker
1 Pileated Woodpecker
4 Blue Jay
3 American Crow
2 Carolina Chickadee
2 Tufted Titmouse
1 White-breasted Nuthatch
2 Carolina Wren
2 Eastern Bluebird
1 Northern Mockingbird
4 Yellow-rumped Warbler
3 Song Sparrow
1 White-throated Sparrow
3 Northern Cardinal
according to e-bird, that should be 30 total for both Manassas
Battlefield locations combined.
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