A friend of mine and I went to Harrison Rd on our way back from
Thompson WMA on Sunday (5/11) morning. There were HUNDREDS!!! of
Bobolinks. Both the males and the females were perching for all to
see. Some close to the road some far from the road and many others
everywhere in between. The crazy, but wonderful, Bobolink song was
made all the more impressive by the sheer volume of birds singing (a
chaotic round of Bobolink song). Truly an amazing sight and sound. In
the farm pond off of Belvoir Rd, just off of Rt 17 there was a mama
WOOD DUCK with ~3 chicks.
At Thompson things were a bit slow due to the high winds. Most
interesting was a RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH on the fire road portion of
the Trillium Trail, maybe half a dozen singing CERULEANs a few singing
ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAKs and all the other usual suspects. It was too
windy up on the ridge for great birding, though the flowers were
impressively beautiful.
We also quickly birded the Vint Hill region in Fauquier County where
we saw and heard a YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT, lots of GRASSHOPPER SPARROWs
(including great looks at them! a rare treat indeed), and both ORIOLE
species.
Very few raptors all day, though we did catch sight of an AMERICAN
KESTREL winging it over I-66 just East of the Gainesville exit.
Good Birds,
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Jeff Clark
Fairfax City, VA
On May 10, 2008, at 11:35 , blkvulture@xxxxxxx wrote:
Hola,
On Monday, there were a few Bobolinks along Harrison Road near The Plains, in Fauquier County. I visited the same spot Friday afternoon and there were well over 100 males, seen just about everywhere. Great viewing, and many were singing for only ten yards away. Only a handful of females were seen. Mostly they were seen in the portion of Harrison closest to Route 245, though I saw them along the whole length of the road. There is a lush alfalfa field that they seem partial to, however history shows that all the fields out there are likely to be cut before any of these birds can breed successfully.
Harrison Road is Route 751 I think, but runs east just off of Route 245 about a mile south of the intersection of I-66.
Cheers,
Todd
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Todd Michael Day
Jeffersonton, VA, USA
blkvulture@xxxxxxx
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