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Northern Goshawk: Fort Raleigh NHS



I searched for the Northern Goshawk that Jeff Lewis saw in the vicinity of 
Elizabethan Gardens on Friday afternoon and did not relocate the bird.

I searched again this morning, Saturday, and found John Fussell instead, 
looking for the bird also.  He had been looking since 8:00am and had not seen 
the bird.   We talked to two of the gardeners and they thought they had seen 
the bird earlier this morning in the Gardens, i.e. large gray backed bird, 
swift flyer, lots of agitated birds and squirrels in the area.  We went to 
the location they had seen the bird and used a tape recording to try and lure 
the bird in.  John spotted a large bird fly in from the greenhouse area of 
the gardens, and apparently land, but not within our view.  It was either in 
the tangle of vines growing on the trees or concealed or already flown 
without our notice.  We finally decided to slowly approach the area and we 
hadn't moved 20 steps when a large gray blue-backed bird, light underneath 
flew from the trees, flew away swiftly and strongly and disappeared.   We 
remained in the area another two hours but never saw the bird again.

This we can surmise.  The bird was not a buteo.  It was an accipiter that was 
LARGE, grayish blue back, light underneath, and flew very swiftly, and 
strong.  It could have been the Goshawk but we could not get our binoculars 
on it for a positive identification.  It could have been a large Cooper's 
Hawk, but considering the recent sightings, two positive and two maybes and 
all in the same area, it was most likely the Goshawk.

John and I plan to return to the area in the morning around 7:00am to try and 
locate this bird.  For other birders wishing to look for the bird, all of the 
sightings and possibles place the bird on the north and east side of the 
Gardens, near the greenhouses and the dense forest vegetation of adjacent 
Fort Raleigh National Historic Site.  There is a nature trail on the east of 
the Gardens that originates near the Lost Colony Theatre that will take you 
through some of the best looking habitat for the bird and within sight of the 
Gardens' greenhouses.  If you want to bird the Gardens, you'll have to wait 
for opening.

Keith Watson
Kill Devil Hills
252-449-0243