Arboretum, mystery hawk, blue jay war declaration
March 25, 2009
When I first arrived at the arboretum at JMU Tuesday evening, I saw from the parking lot an obvious hawk. What wasn’t so obvious was which species it was. I only managed to make a few frames before it took off. I’ve narrowed the possibilities to the following: sharp-shinned hawk, coopers hawk, broad-winged hawk or a juvenile northern harrier.
Any birding gurus are welcome to take a stab at what it might be.
I also crept up on a few groundhogs and observed them for a bit. It’s been a while since I’ve seen them, so I guess that’s just another sign that it really is spring.
Around the pond itself I had some good experiences with cardinals, robins and even another heron. I also briefly saw my foe, the blue jay (I’ve declared unofficial war – see earlier posts if you’re confused).
All in all, a pleasant outing with beautiful light.
Wildlife in Photography 
March 25, 2009 at 11:53 am
I live about a mile from the arboretum by Stone Spring Rd. and I have a similar visitor. I lovingly refer to it as “the falcon”. It’s presence is known in two different ways:
1. a cloud of dove feathers explodes at my bird feeder as the falcon rockets in for a meal.
2. If the blue jays spot the falcon first, they actually give out a hawk-like call and all the birds scatter, leaving only the falcon at the feeder wondering where everyone went.
March 25, 2009 at 12:14 pm
An off-site vote was for Coopers.
March 25, 2009 at 12:16 pm
Frank,
Very interesting little dynamics you have going on in your yard! Now seems to be a pretty good time for birdwatching.
March 25, 2009 at 12:59 pm
It’s definitely either sharp shinned or cooper’s, my vote is for Cooper’s.
http://identify.whatbird.com/obj/43/_/Sharp-shinned_Hawk.aspx
http://identify.whatbird.com/obj/36/_/Coopers_Hawk.aspx
It’s so interesting you posted this today, because literally just yesterday I saw and commented on this on Flickr:
March 25, 2009 at 7:39 pm
I’m going with the crowd and voting Coopers. I found this site helpful last year when we had a nesting pair in the yard at the cabin:
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/pfw/AboutBirdsandFeeding/accipiterIDtable.htm
You have a good photo (of course – and at least one!) – you can send it to them and they will try and make an id.
Last time I was out a few weeks ago, I saw and heard the hawks, 3 of them – they’ve returned. The Cornell people told me they were likely programmed into my area since we had a successful nest.
JT
March 29, 2009 at 2:01 am
Thought you may be interested in this Flickr group:
March 29, 2009 at 2:13 am
Thanks for the links. Good stuff all around.
July 12, 2010 at 10:49 am
[…] In March of 2009 (if you’ve been following along), I jokingly declared war on blue jays. […]