Hi, Dave. A Common Raven has taken up residence at the old coal factory in
north Old Town Alexandria. I've been watching and listening to it for
nearly a week now. It often flies from building to building in the Old Town
area, and I've seen it fly in from the north (your sighting area) a couple
of times.
I'm glad to see your post about the scarcity of this bird because eBird
lists it as a bird that is not a rarity, which is why I didn't pass along
the info to the listserv already. You've been in this area a lot longer
than I have, but it nearly 4 years here, I've never seen nor heard a Common
Raven in this area. You can imagine how delighted I was to wake to the
sound of that croak last weekend.
Here's hoping it finds a partner to mate with!
--Pete Peters
Old Town
On Thu, Aug 27, 2015 at 9:53 AM, David Davis <daviszepp@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
While taking an after-dinner stroll in my neighborhood (Fairlington
Village) yesterday evening (Aug 26), I believe that a raven flew overhead.
It was just a bit before sunset and I was near the South Utah Street ball
field and dog park when I heard the distinctive croak of a Common Raven
coming in my direction from the west (that is, from the area of
Shirlington). By the time it penetrated my subconscious, it was directly
overhead at a height of perhaps a hundred feet and heading east toward the
Parkfairfax development across Quaker Lane in Alexandria. I only got to
see it for a second or two as it crossed a sky gap between trees and
buildings before it was out of sight and hearing.
I have lived in this neighborhood for over 41 years and have never seen or
heard a raven here, but am very familiar with their vocalizations and
flight style from time spent at my second home in the mountains where they
are fairly common. The call was, to my ears, unmistakeable and very
different from that of our two local crow species, including the odd calls
of juveniles. This was a big bird with a slow, rowing flight style that is
distinctive and typical of the species. While my view of the body,
especially the distinctive wedge-shaped tail, was not long enough to be
completely satisfying, I did get a sense that the tail was more like that
of a raven than that of our local crows.
I recognize that this is neither a definite sighting nor one of a rare
species, but if truly a raven, it would certainly be unusual for this area
and a first for me. I’ll keep my eyes and ears open.
Good birding
Dave Davis
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