Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy

This is a rare sighting for Loudoun in the winter, yet this bird has been staying at Sunnylane Farm in Round Hill for most of the winter.

We often see Rose-breasted Grosbeaks during migration as they pass through flying from their usual wintering grounds in south and central America to their summer breeding grounds which are generally north of here although through our bird atlas project we are thinking that they are a probable (although infrequent) breeder for Loudoun County.

You can learn more about the Rose-breasted Grosbeak on Cornell’s All About Birds site. Definitely take a look at the range map and see where this bird ought to be for winter.

It’s really interesting to have it here for the winter. I haven’t heard if it stayed through the snow storms but hopefully it made it through the rough weather.

Grosbeaks are seed eaters so keeping the feeders stocked will likely help this friend through these cold times.

Well Dave Thomas and his wife Anne came back from a trip overseas to both the snow and a hawk hunting around the feeders at Leisure World in Lansdowne.  I had a similar experience myself with a Coopers hawk that grabbed a Starling but alas, I didn’t get any shots of it. Dave was fast in grabbing the camera and has a great story of the event. You can click on the pictures to see them larger:

Here’s the story of these shots from Dave and yes, it is a Coopers Hawk: Neighbors told us that hawks had been visiting the area of the bird feeders behind our Leisure World condominium, so my wife Anne kept watching whenever she could.  Friday (February 12) shortly after noon she said we had a hawk!

The hawk shifted quietly from one tree to the fence, then to a second tree and to a lower branch on that tree (4th and 5th photos).  Two seconds after the 5th photo the bird flew off to the east, and I caught 4 shots with my 6-frames-per second burst mode. The action was very fast, so I had no idea that the bird had captured prey until I looked at the series on my computer screen.

My best guess is that the bird is a Cooper’s Hawk, possibly immature, or maybe a Sharp-shinned Hawk. More experienced birders might be able tell.  Regardless, it was time well spent to record something I had never seen, and which is hard to see with the unaided eye. The hawk was evidently hunting in its patient waiting mode. It is pretty well concealed by the tree, the snow, and its protective coloring, so the feeding songbirds were around, even though they scatter when hawks first arrive.

Bill and Betty Ebert had this story play out at their feeder in Leesburg this week.  I thought it would be fun to share it with you here. You can click on the photos to see them larger:

The Red-bellied Woodpecker had already staked claim to the feeder area but a Starling decided to give it a go anyway…. “Hey! Get away from my seeds!” (the Red-bellied seemed to say) Ultimately, the Red-Bellied Woodpecker was victorious.