try, try again

Eileen Schwinn and I went back out on this windy morning to try and refind yesterday's Bell's Vireo but with no success. There were a few migrants around including some warblers (N Parula, Am Redstart, Common Yellowthoat and Yellow Warbler), flycatchers (E Phoebe, at least one empid), the usual Robins and Catbirds plus a flock of Cedar Waxwings. But today's weather was more suitable for raptors and there were indeed some of those in the air. The bird of the day was N Harrier. In about an hour of hawk watching from the vantage point of our pond on Weesuck Creek, Lorna and I saw at least 7 or 8 of these handsome birds, mostly flying high (Harriers present a striking and unfamiliar silhouette when flying high but you can usually see the white rump as the bird banks and wheels in the sky). Additionally there were a few falcons (several Merlins with at least one Am Kestrel being attacked by one of the Merlins), a couple of accipiters (at least one Cooper's Hawk) and a minor parade of Osprey.

Eric Salzman