A walk around the Lincoln Monument and Tidal Basin produced lots of
birds,
though nothing unusual. A Red-tailed Hawk was perched in a tree near
the
Washington Monument, a large flock of cowbirds (a few hundred) was at
the
DC Veteran's Memorial, a flock of robins was at the FDR Memorial, and a
large adult Cooper's Hawk was chasing an adult Red-shouldered Hawk at
the
north end of Hains Point
This was probably the highlight of the walk, as the birds offered a
look
of two similarly colored birds of similar size, the only distinguishing
characters being mode of flight and relative length of the tail. When I
first saw them they were back-lit, and I thought it was a Red-tail being
chased by an accipiter of similar size. That could only be a Goshawk!
I got wonderful, but disappointing looks at both as they flew by me
quite closely.
Jim
Jim Felley
Smithsonian Institution
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