Message:

[

Previous   Next

]

By Topic:

[

Previous   Next

]

Subject:

Possible Swainson's Hawk in PG Co?

From:

Elaine Hendricks

Reply-To:

Elaine Hendricks

Date:

Thu, 12 Jan 2006 12:46:08 -0500

At the risk of being dismissed as a crackpot and losing whatever 
credibility I might have had as a birder, here goes:  This morning 
around 11:20, I was on the Laurel Trail at the National Wildlife Visitor 
Center.  I was scanning the tops of the pines, hoping to come up with 
another Red-breasted Nuthatch, when I saw a buteo flying in my 
direction.  It was about the size of a Red-tailed Hawk but had longer, 
more slender wings.  As it went into a soar, I could see that it had a 
dark head and a dark brown upper breast - forming a bib-like effect - 
that was clearly delineated from the pale, unmarked belly (there was 
no belly band).  The underwings were also very pale, but were 
flecked with brown, and contrasted sharply with the very dark flight 
feathers.   I also saw a lighter "window" in the primaries near the wing 
tip.  The tail had a broad black band at its outer edge.  The rest of the 
tail, seen from below, looked barred, with narrow dark bands.

Then, as improbable as it might seem, I saw a second hawk coming 
into view, which started soaring with the first one.  Unfortunately, as I 
was starting to look at the second bird, my dog suddenly jerked free (I 
stand on her leash while I'm looking at birds) and went running down 
the trail to meet another dog which was off its leash.  So, I had to drop 
what I was doing to sort that out.  By the time I had her in hand again, 
the two hawks had disappeared.  We hurried back to the open area 
by the parking lot, but there was no sign of them.  I got only a brief 
look at the second bird, but my impression was that it looked similar. 

The bird that I saw looked **A LOT** like a hawk that I reported as a 
Swainson's back in December 1997, at Black Hill RP in Montgomery 
County (but the Records Committee declined to accept it).

PLEASE, Prince George's birders, keep an eye out for this bird!

Elaine Hendricks
Greenbelt, MD  
 

-- 
_______________________________________________
Get your free Verizonmail at www.verizonmail.com