So far, from my understanding, no one has refound the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher
yet. I looked again yesterday morning and several others have looked for it
too. However, there is hope. Folks are headed out to the area this morning and
tomorrow morning.
Elisa Enders
Portsmouth, VA
From: elisaenders@xxxxxxxxxxx
To: va-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Wed, 13 Jun 2012 12:42:33 -0400
Subject: [Va-bird] Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, Loudoun County
I was out this morning in Loudoun County for the VSO foray (in support of the
Loudoun County Breeding Bird Atlas) when I saw an adult Scissor-tailed
Flycatcher being harassed by a Northern Mockingbird at approximately 8am. The
flycatcher was an adult and the salmon "armpits" were well seen, despite poor
lighting conditions (I was looking toward the sun for the most part). The
bird's tail was approximately twice the length of the mockingbird's tail. I
observed the scissor-tail for approximately 5 to 10 minutes. The location
(north of Leesburg and east of Highway 15) where the bird was sighted is
along Hibler Road (Route 656), east of the intersection with Limestone School
Road (Route 661), over the fields just west of 43225 Hibler Road (farmhouse
on south side of the road). Unfortunately, after repeated harassment by the
mockingbird and several Eastern Kingbirds, the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher took
off and headed north, disappearing in a line of trees to the north of the
road a
ddress listed above. I hoped that it would return, but after half an hour, I
decided to walk back to my car (parked about 2 miles away). After returning
several hours later, I scanned the fields in the area, but failed to find the
flycatcher. Other interesting birds included a singing White-throated Sparrow
(heard only) along Limestone School Road and singing Horned Larks and a
singing Dickcissel at Temple Hall Regional Park. I never saw the Dickcissel
-- which was very frustrating because it could be heard very clearly and
seemed to be singing from the tops of trees along the north boundary of the
park. Grasshopper Sparrows were out in good numbers and one could not avoid
Gray Catbirds -- are they always common in this part of the state? A nice,
but frustrating morning.
Elisa Enders
Portsmouth, VA
_______________________________________________
va-bird mailing list
http://mailman.listserve.com/listmanager/listinfo/va-bird
Thank you for subscribing to Va-bird, a service of the Virginia Society of
Ornithology. Please consider joining the VSO.
http://www.virginiabirds.net/
