Well, clearly I should have gone birding with George and Rosemarie Harris
today (RHWP, Cape May Warbler, etc.). I wandered around Beaverdam Park
South for an hour or so with the dog at 1100 and the only highlight was the
return of the COOT flock - the 250 count is most likely an underestimate.
The gull guard has changed... just one Laughing Gull in the mix now. No ducks.
Next I drove around Robins Neck, between the Ware and Severn Rivers. The
Rte 614 -> Rte 629 loop around this area is a joy to drive anytime. I was
hoping for some waterfowl on the creeks and rivers and perhaps an owl at
dusk. There are lots of open fields and marsh (particularly the
tree-studded high marsh) along this stretch that look like excellent hawk
and owl territory. The fields scream for pipits and the marshes on the
south end are great for rails and sparrows. Alas, today was a bust. One
BALD EAGLE, one SHARP-SHINNED HAWK, a dozen or so meadowlarks, some song
sparrows, doves, robins, and red-winged blackbirds, and not much else. As
if to spite me, the landing at Jones Point wouldn't cough up a single bird
- zip.
I stopped in at Glass just before dark and spotted a single COMMON LOON out
on the Severn with three ducks that were too far away to ID. Just great.
Location: Beaverdam Park South
Observation date: 11/18/07
Number of species: 23
Canada Goose 75
Mute Swan 25
Mallard 22
Pied-billed Grebe 7
Great Blue Heron 2
American Coot 250
Killdeer 2
Laughing Gull 1
Ring-billed Gull 34
Mourning Dove 2
Belted Kingfisher 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker 1
Eastern Phoebe 1
American Crow 7
Carolina Chickadee 4
Carolina Wren 1
Golden-crowned Kinglet 3
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 1
American Robin 12
Song Sparrow 2
White-throated Sparrow 3
American Goldfinch 1
This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org)
Dave Hewitt
Gloucester, VA
