I birded the park this afternoon for a few hours walking the trails and
scoping the lake. The ten Red-necked Grebes are still present, but the
Long-tailed Duck was not seen. The three female Red-breasted Mergansers
were scattered across the water, but the male was nowhere to be seen
either. Some of the Lesser Scaup were still haning around as well with a
couple Pied-billed Grebes. Before hitting the trails I heard two clear
calls from a distant Common Raven.
Birding along the Lakeshore Trail to the observation platform I picked up
several Eastern Phoebes, a male Eastern Towhee, a Winter Wren, and an
American Coot. With the platform not revealing much I headed back and
caught sight of a fast-moving flock of Yellow-rumped Warblers in the
canopy. A single bird dropped down and started climbing like a nuthatch on
a nearby pine tree. I was pleasantly surprised when I saw the heavy,
contrasting streaks of a Black-and-white Warbler. I followed him for a
while back along the trail to my car where I ended the day with 32 species.
View the complete checklist with photos of the loon and warbler:
http://ebird.org/ebird/va/view/checklist?subID=S17671302
Evan Spears
Dillwyn, VA
