(AOL has contacted me and appears to be working on the encoding problem)
VA BIRDers,
Linda Millington and I spent the morning (7/24) looking at field birds. The
best payoff were 3 different Dickcissels singing in the Remington area, near
the turf farms - along Rt 755 and 668 from Rt 651 and before the first side
roads on each. The turf farm held many Killdeer and a single Pectoral
Sandpiper
plus scads of Barn Swallows and a few Horned Larks.
Afterwards, I visited the mudflats of Hunting Creek in late afternoon and
noted 4 newly arrived Semipalmated Sandpipers mixed in with 50+ Least
Sandpipers
- can Short-billed Dowitcher be far behind?
I also passed through the Waynewood subdivision off of the GW Parkway just
north of Fort Hunt. I caught site of one Mississippi Kite near the pool by
Waynewood Rd. Its vector suggested it came from across Fort Hunt Rd - there is
a
middle school there, Carl Sandburg, with good viewing vistas that may be a fine
place to look for this bird, too.
Speaking of Mississippi Kites, I do not think this species has been confirmed
as a breeder in Fairfax Co. It would be fantastic if someone could confirm
this species for the upcoming inaugural issue of Virginia Birds. A decent
photo
would have an excellent chance of publication!
Speaking of Virginia Birds, the summer reporting period will end July 31st.
Please send me your reports, notes, and comments soon afterwards (by Aug. 15th
please, that is, for the Northern Area, see the VSO website for area
demarcations). Rare birds like Lesser Scaup or Ruddy Ducks in the summer are
not the
only fodder for this journal; rare breeders like Mississippi Kites or Soras,
Blue-winged Warblers, Savannah Sparrows, Vesper Sparrows, etc. are all of great
interest. Questions about how other species are doing, such as Sharpies,
Cooper's and Broad-winged Hawks, Black-billed Cuckoos, Hermit Thrush are all
dependent upon your reports. Or warblers such as Black-throated Blue and Green
or Magnolia. Also of interest are large numbers of breeders in an area, early
migrants (Bank Swallows and shorebirds in all areas!), and late migrants,
e.g., those low-altitude juncos (siskins anyone?).
Thank you! Wishing You All Good Birds,
Kurt Gaskill, kurtcapt87 at aol.com
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.
