When fishing with Mike on the Shenandoah River recently, we were treated to the sight of a young eagle that landed in a tree above us. Later we saw another eagle, with the classic white head, soaring high overhead. It was good I had the eagles and several mink along the river bank to watch, because I didn’t catch a fish.
I don’t remember ever seeing eagles when I was growing up, but now I see them fairly often along the rivers and creeks near Broadway. The same for wild geese. In my younger years the sight of the V high in the air was a rarity, but now it’s not that unusual at all. I have always been interested in the habits of turkeys and other game birds, but lately I have paid more attention to the actions of the more familiar birds around me.
My interest began on an autumn day as I was splitting a pile of old partially decayed wood. As I would throw the split pieces on a pile, I began to noticed a sleek, graceful, gray bird hanging out close-by. It would flutter around on the split pile looking for insects. Each time I would set down to rest beside the pile it would get closer and closer until it was only a few feet away and seemed almost oblivious to my presence. It was unusual and amusing to be able to watch it at such close proximity as it cocked its head sideways, spotted its victim and grabbed a bug with its beak. My curiosity aroused, I did a little research and found it to be a catbird. Later on, the same thing happened as I was digging out a shrub. This time I noticed there were two birds, a male and a female. They almost seemed like pets. Every time I would work outside and stir up insects they would show-up.
There have been other occasions when I have been at the right place at the right time. Every now and then I have seen a kestrel hanging out in our back yard. Usually, the other birds and squirrels make quite a racket and are quick to make its presence known. One day when entering the driveway behind our house, I noticed a commotion under our mulberry tree. A kestrel was on the ground with a blackbird in its grasp. Several months later another bird “bit the dust” under the same tree.
While driving north on Rt 42 one day, I followed an osprey flying directly overhead with a large sucker firmly grasped in its talons. The suckers’ tail was slowly swinging back and forth like it was taking a lazy swim down Linville Creek. Another time during a lunch break at a training session at (then) Lord Fairfax Community College, I was watching an osprey perched high in a tree beside a large pond. It took off and after circling overhead a few times, made a sudden dive into the pond and came out with a fish. It made my day!
Years ago, I did some bow hunting in a tree stand located near the North Fork of the Shenandoah. One evening I noticed a heron standing like a statue in the water at the edge of the river. As I watched, it’s long neck very slowly cocked back like a coiled spring. Wham!! Nothing but a blur and it had a fish in its long beak.
Hawks are pretty commonplace. One early afternoon while hunting, I was startled by a hawk that swooped very close by me at ground level and chased down a squirrel. There was quite a scuffle but the squirrel got away. Being about half asleep at the time, I almost had a heart attack and I can only imagine how the squirrel felt. And once on a scouting excursion high in the head of a rough hollow, I paused on a rock ledge to survey the terrain below. A hawk came to a sliding halt (or the mid-air equivalent) and aborted a landing on my head. I’m very thankful! I know the hawk was as surprised as I was.
These are a few examples of bird behavior you don’t see every day. I guess for the birds, it’s just another day in paradise.
R.D. Cullers
Graduate of Bergton Elementary (Class of ’65)
