10 members of the Northern Virginia Bird Club turned out for a walk at
Airlie, Fauquier County
this morning. After a somewhat chilly start, we were treated to a good
variety of waterfowl.
Probably our best bird was a CACKLING GOOSE that flew in with a bunch of
Canadas at the
reservoir. Another interesting sighting was a pair of TRUMPETER SWANS that
flew in while
we were there. One of the birds was collared and Sue Heath identified it as
a bird from the
Ohio re-introduction effort. The other bird was uncollared leading us to
believe that it
probably was wild. Sue said the Ohio bird had been present at Airlie last
year. In any case,
the birds were definately behaving as a pair. Other nice waterfowl included
20 TUNDRA SWANS,
18 GADWALL, 30 AMERICAN WIGEON, 15 AMERICAN BLACK DUCK, 25 MALLARD, 1 NO.
PINTAIL, 1 CANVASBACK,
450 RING-NECKED DUCKS (an enormous flock of them flew overhead),35
BUFFLEHEAD, 50 HOODED
MERGANSER, 20 RUDDY DUCK. As the weather warmed up, the Hoodies and Buffles
put on a very
entertaining courtship show. Other good birds were a single TREE SPARROW,
and 3 BALD EAGLES.
45 species were seen altogether, with all the others being the usual
suspects. Complete list
on request.
Joanna B. Taylor
Arlington, VA
jandrtaylor@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
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