Blackwater NWR, 11/11-16/2019

All photos are © Marshall Faintich

November 16

It was sunny, but extremely windy. A nor'easter was moving up the coast, and the wind was its advance warning. This was my last birding day of the trip, and I already had 71 avian species on my trip list. I didn't expect to see any new avian species at Blackwater, but decided to give it a go and enjoy the outing. That turned out to be a really good decision. There were the same species as I started out on Wildlife Drive.

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Sub-adult (Basic III) Bald Eagle

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Sub-adult (Basic III) Bald Eagle

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Great Blue Heron

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Northern Shoveler

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Northern Shovelers

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Red-shouldered Hawk

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Red-shouldered Hawk (full resolution detail)

Farther down Wildlife Drive, I saw the pair of Bald Eagles that had been in that same area all week. This morning, they were perched on outcroppings in the shallow water by the drive.

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Bald Eagles

While I photographing the Bald Eagles, I heard quite a bit of avian commotion. It might have been American Crows or Canada Geese; I'm not sure, as all of this happened so quickly. One of the Bald Eagles immediately took off.

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Bald Eagle

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Bald Eagle

I looked up and saw two hawks circling high above me. The higher one was a Red-tailed. The lower one looked very large and my first impression was a Northern Harrier.

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Red-tailed Hawk

But as it circled and I got a view of its backside, I didn't see the white rump of a Northern Harrier. That was strange! The larger hawk circled down toward where I was standing. It was HUGE! It was a juvenile Northern Goshawk!

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Northern Goshawk

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Northern Goshawk

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Northern Goshawk

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Northern Goshawk

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Northern Goshawk

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Northern Goshawk

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Northern Goshawk

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Northern Goshawk

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Northern Goshawk

I don't know if the Goshawk was looking at me or at the Bald Eagles, but it quickly turned and flew over a tree line.

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Northern Goshawk

There was a huge flock of Canada Geese in the field on the other side of that tree line, and all of them took to flight making a very loud noise. One of the Bald Eagles flew in the direction of the Goshawk, presumably to chase it away.

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Bald Eagle and Canada Geese

Well, that was really neat to see, and the Northern Goshawk was my trip bird species #72. I drove the loop again looking for the Goshawk, but did not see it again. I headed back to the hotel, and saw my last Bald Eagle of the trip when I got there.

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Bald Eagle

Here's my list of birds seen on this trip (B: Blackwater; C: Cambridge; E: Egypt Road):

Common Loon   C
Double-crested Cormorant   C
Great Blue Heron   BC
Snowy Egret   B
Tundra Swan   B
Canada Goose   B
Cackling Goose   B
American Black Duck   BC
Mallard   BC
Northern Shoveler   B
Bufflehead   C
Ruddy Duck   C
American Wigeon   C
Hooded Merganser   B
Black Vulture   BCE
Turkey Vulture   BCE
Bald Eagle   BC
Sharp-shinned Hawk   B
Cooper's Hawk   B
Northern Goshawk   B
Northern Harrier   B
Red-shouldered Hawk   B
Red-tailed Hawk   BE
Killdeer   E
Black-bellied Plover   E
Lesser Yellowlegs   B
Ring-billed Gull   BCE
Herring Gull   C
Laughing Gull   BC
Rock Pigeon   C
Mourning Dove   BC
Belted Kingfisher   BC
Downy Woodpecker   B
Hairy Woodpecker   B
Red-bellied Woodpecker   B
Pileated Woodpecker   B
Northern Flicker   B
Eastern Phoebe   B
Blue Jay   BC
American Crow   BC
Fish Crow   B
Horned Lark   E
Carolina Chickadee   BC
Tufted Titmouse   B
Brown-headed Nuthatch   B
Carolina Wren   BC
Marsh Wren   B
Winter Wren   B
Golden-crowned Kinglet   B
Ruby-crowned Kinglet   B
Eastern Bluebird   B
Hermit Thrush   B
American Robin   BC
Northern Mockingbird   BC
American Pipit   E
Cedar Waxwing   C
European Starling   BCE
Palm Warbler   E
Yellow-rumped Warbler   C
Northern Cardinal   BC
Field Sparrow   BC
Song Sparrow   BC
Chipping Sparrow   B
White-throated Sparrow   B
Savannah Sparrow   E
Swamp Sparrow   B
Dark-eyed Junco   B
Eastern Meadowlark   E
Red-winged Blackbird   B
Brown-headed Cowbird   B
American Goldfinch   C
House Sparrow   C


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