Bill Williams, Fred Blystone, and I birded Shirley Plantation in Charles
City County this morning. We had 53 species.
Tom McCary, our VP of programs for the Williamsburg Bird Club, works at
Shirley Plantation and had alerted us that a pair of BALTIMORE ORIOLES =
had
been in residence around the formal gardens for the month of February.
We arrive just as the Plantation opened at 9 am. As we turned the corner =
of
the hedge to walk to the Gift Shop to pay our admission fee, we spotted =
the
two Baltimore Orioles (male and female) in the shrubbery beside the gift
shop. They caught the sunlight just right and were stunning! They stayed =
in
that area for several minutes and we got good looks at both birds =
perching
on tree limbs and the tops of shrubs.
After we paid the admission fee, we walked around the Great House to the
slope down to the James River where Bill immediately spotted 5 COMMON
MERGANSERS just off the riverbank. I trekked back to the car to retrieve =
a
couple of spotting scopes. From the river bank we spotted numerous BALD
EAGLES (mature and immature) and OSPREY across the river. We spotted a =
Bald
Eagle nest up the river with one adult incubating and another adult flew =
in
while they were in the scope.=20
Then we walked back around to the formal gardens where we immediately
spotted the White-crowned Sparrows that Tom often reports. We lingered
around the gardens and spotted a NORTHERN HARRIER over the polo ground. =
We
then drove out the long exit road to Route 156. We reviewed the =
impoundments
and found lots of waterfowl. We also scared up about 40 AMERICAN PIPITS =
and
about a half dozen HORNED LARKS in the fields. Numerous AMERICAN =
KESTRELS
were perched on the wires and tops of bushes. Just a couple of TREE =
SWALLOWS
were flying around but we were glad to see them. The complete list for =
this
stop is below.
A reminder: Shirley Plantation is private property and you must pay the
admission fee to bird the property. From our visit today, it makes for a
great birding day. If you have time, please visit the Great House. By =
the
way, this is a "Birding Hot Spot" in eBird. Enter the city of Hopewell, =
VA
and it will display as a hot spot in the area.
Shirley Devan
Williamsburg Bird Club
cell: 757-813-1322
-----Original Message-----
From: do-not-reply@xxxxxxxxx [mailto:do-not-reply@xxxxxxxxx]=20
Sent: Thursday, March 01, 2007 6:19 PM
To: sedevan52@xxxxxxx
Subject: eBird Report - Charles City Co Shirley Plantation , 3/1/07
Location: Charles City Co Shirley Plantation
Observation date: 3/1/07
Notes: Bill Williams, Fred Blystone and I birded the grounds and
farmland around Shirley Plantation this morning.
Number of species: 53
Canada Goose X
Wood Duck X
Gadwall X
American Wigeon X
American Black Duck X
Mallard X
Green-winged Teal X
Lesser Scaup X
Common Merganser 5
Ruddy Duck X
Double-crested Cormorant X
Great Blue Heron X
Turkey Vulture X
Osprey X
Bald Eagle X
Northern Harrier X
Red-tailed Hawk X
American Kestrel X
American Coot X
Killdeer X
Wilson's Snipe X
Ring-billed Gull X
Herring Gull X
Rock Pigeon X
Mourning Dove X
Belted Kingfisher X
Red-bellied Woodpecker X
Downy Woodpecker X
Northern Flicker X
Eastern Phoebe X
Blue Jay X
American Crow X
Fish Crow X
Horned Lark X
Tree Swallow X
Carolina Wren X
Ruby-crowned Kinglet X
Eastern Bluebird X
Gray Catbird X
Northern Mockingbird X
European Starling X
American Pipit X
Song Sparrow X
White-throated Sparrow X
White-crowned Sparrow X
Dark-eyed Junco X
Northern Cardinal X
Red-winged Blackbird X
Eastern Meadowlark X
Rusty Blackbird X
Common Grackle X
Baltimore Oriole 2
House Finch X
This report was generated automatically by eBird v2 =
(http://www.ebird.org)
You are subscribed to VA-BIRD. To post to this mailing list, simply send email
to va-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx. To unsubscribe, send email to
va-bird-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field.
