Just before 11:00 this morning (1/15/05), a Red-shouldered hawk went screaming by my window in Georgetown, so of course I had to go check it out. It wasn't the repetitive "keer-keer-keer," but a more insistent & drawn out call. When I looked out from the roof of my building, I saw the hawk perched in the nearest tall tree, still calling occassionally and turning its head, looking in every direction.
I thought I heard another hawk, and scanned the sky to see -- a Turkey Vulture circling high to the west. Then I noticed, lower & closer, a buteo. R-s #2 tucked its wings and glided in to perch in the next tall tree over from R-s #1, probably 50' away from the first.
But by now I was sure I heard 3 hawks calling. Sure enough, R-s #3 flew in from the east - the same direction #1 had come from - and lit in the same tree as #1, lower in the tree. R-s #3 was the most colorful of the three.
R-s #2 immediately high-tailed it out of there, flying to the SW with steady wingbeats until it was out of sight. R-s #3 then cruised over to the tree where #2 had been, followed by #1; #1 perched higher in the tree, above #3.
My impression is that R-s #1 was larger and duller than both #2 & #3, but I didn't get as good a look at #2 as it was a bit farther away & didn't stay around so long.
Pretty soon #1 & #3 both glided off low toward the west, one after the other (I'm not sure which left first, if it matters).
So Denise, there's certainly more than one Red-shouldered Hawk around Rock Creek in DC!
--
Carrol Cowan
Washington DC
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