Despite the rainy forecast I was eager to get out to my usual birding spots in
the upper Northern Neck yesterday after returning from my summer travels. I
was rewarded with a really good diversity of shorebirds including a flock of 16
Hudsonian Godwits that flew over and did not land in any place that I could
access despite careful and long searching. Because it was raining I did not
have my camera out to photograph them unfortunately. The following is my list
of 79 species found in the "King George ponds" area. I stopped in 4 locations
some of which require special permission to access. The most accessible area is
LaGrange Lane which is where the Golden-Plover was. Other highlights were more
stilt sandpipers than I have ever seen in one spot, 22 blue-winged teal, 2
ring-necked ducks, a tundra swan (which has been around all summer), and the
following other shorebirds: pectoral, semipal sand, spotted sand, least sand,
sb dowitcher, semipal plover,
black-bellied plover, killdeer, both yellowlegs. It was strange to see no
gulls here today. Passerine birding was difficult and wet so I did some more
shorebirding down in Westmoreland and King William counties which I will report
on later.
Here is the King George Co list. (Number in () is the number out of 4 locations
in which this species was seen)
Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) 85 (3)
Tundra Swan (Cygnus columbianus) 1
Wood Duck (Aix sponsa) 1
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) 94 (2)
Blue-winged Teal (Anas discors) 22
Green-winged Teal (Anas crecca) 1
Ring-necked Duck (Aythya collaris) 2
Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) 4 (4)
Great Egret (Ardea alba) 4 (2)
Green Heron (Butorides virescens) 3 (2)
Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura) 1
Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) 6 (4)
Cooper's Hawk (Accipiter cooperii) 1
Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) 10 (4)
Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus) 1
Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) 2 (2)
Black-bellied Plover (Pluvialis squatarola) 1
American Golden-Plover (Pluvialis dominica) 1
Semipalmated Plover (Charadrius semipalmatus) 5 (2)
Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus) 34 (4)
Spotted Sandpiper (Actitis macularius) 3 (2)
Greater Yellowlegs (Tringa melanoleuca) 16 (2)
Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes) 90
Hudsonian Godwit (Limosa haemastica) 16
Semipalmated Sandpiper (Calidris pusilla) 5 (2)
Least Sandpiper (Calidris minutilla) 6 (2)
Pectoral Sandpiper (Calidris melanotos) 9
Stilt Sandpiper (Calidris himantopus) 14
Short-billed Dowitcher (Limnodromus griseus) 1
Forster's Tern (Sterna forsteri) 4 (4)
Rock Pigeon (Columba livia) 50
Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura) 51 (4)
Ruby-throated Hummingbird (Archilochus colubris) 2 (2)
Belted Kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon) 2 (2)
Red-bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus) 1
Downy Woodpecker (Picoides pubescens) 1
Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus) 1
American Kestrel (Falco sparverius) 1
Eastern Wood-Pewee (Contopus virens) 1
Eastern Phoebe (Sayornis phoebe) 2 (2)
Great Crested Flycatcher (Myiarchus crinitus) 1
Eastern Kingbird (Tyrannus tyrannus) 9 (3)
White-eyed Vireo (Vireo griseus) 2
Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata) 2
American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos) 14 (4)
Northern Rough-winged Swallow (Stelgidopteryx serripennis)
12 (3)
Purple Martin (Progne subis) 3
Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor) 290 (3)
Bank Swallow (Riparia riparia) 120 (3)
Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica) 87 (4)
Carolina Chickadee (Poecile carolinensis) 2
Tufted Titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor) 1
White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis) 1
Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus) 10 (3)
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (Polioptila caerulea) 3 (2)
Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis) 4
American Robin (Turdus migratorius) 2
Gray Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis) 12 (3)
Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos) 8 (4)
Brown Thrasher (Toxostoma rufum) 1
European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) 90 (3)
Cedar Waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum) 2
Common Yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas) 2
Yellow Warbler (Setophaga petechia) 4 (2)
Yellow-throated Warbler (Setophaga dominica) 2
Prairie Warbler (Setophaga discolor) 1
Chipping Sparrow (Spizella passerina) 4 (3)
Field Sparrow (Spizella pusilla) 2 (2)
Grasshopper Sparrow (Ammodramus savannarum) 2
Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) 11 (4)
Blue Grosbeak (Passerina caerulea) 9 (3)
Indigo Bunting (Passerina cyanea) 9 (2)
Bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus) 2 (2)
Common Grackle (Quiscalus quiscula) 7 (2)
Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater) 1
Orchard Oriole (Icterus spurius) 5 (2)
House Finch (Haemorhous mexicanus) 3
American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis) 10 (3)
House Sparrow (Passer domesticus) 2
Frederick D. Atwood fredatwood@xxxxxxxxx
Flint Hill School, 10409 Academic Dr, Oakton, VA 22124
703-242-1675
http://www.agpix.com/fredatwood
http://www.flinthill.org
http://tea.armadaproject.org/tea_atwoodfrontpage.html
