WARM greetings,
Fellow Williamsburg Bird Club member Geoff Giles and I ventured to Dutch Gap
early this morning to try for the Least Bitterns. We arrived at the first
observation platform by 8:15 and immediately saw a female Wood Duck with young.
Eventually saw her with 5 young. A large snapping turtle was floating in the
same area.
At 8:43 am the male Least Bittern flew from right to left in front of the
platform. No vocalization at all. A few minutes later Geoff observed the female
perched on a dead snag near the road to the left of the platform. Geoff finally
got my attention and I slowly approached . She then flew off!
A local photographer, Jerry, arrived shortly after we did and assured us we
were in the right spot and produced a photo of one of the bitterns he had taken
yesterday! He said the bitterns frequently perched on snags and branches near
the platform.
Least Bittern was a life bird for each of us.
A total of 20 species before we departed about 10:30. The complete list from
eBird is below.
Shirley Devan
Williamsburg Bird Club
http://williamsburgbirdclub.org/
Board member, Virginia Society of Ornithology
http://www.virginiabirds.net/index.html
Ph: 757.813.1322
I'm now on facebook ...
Begin forwarded message:
From: do-not-reply@xxxxxxxxx
Date: July 22, 2011 3:58:38 PM EDT
To: sedevan52@xxxxxxx
Subject: eBird Report - Henricus - Dutch Gap Conservation Area, Jul 22, 2011
Henricus - Dutch Gap Conservation Area, Chesterfield, US-VA
Jul 22, 2011 8:05 AM - 10:25 AM
Protocol: Traveling
1.0 mile(s)
Comments: Geoff Giles and Shirley Devan, Williamsburg Bird Club
20 species
Canada Goose 24
Wood Duck 6
Mallard 1
Least Bittern 2
Great Blue Heron 1
Turkey Vulture 12
Osprey 2
Mourning Dove 6
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 1
Belted Kingfisher 1
Purple Martin 24
Carolina Wren 1
Eastern Bluebird 3
Northern Mockingbird 4
Brown Thrasher 1
Blue Grosbeak 3
Indigo Bunting 2
Red-winged Blackbird 12
Brown-headed Cowbird 2
American Goldfinch 1
This report was generated automatically by eBird v2 (http://ebird.org/VA)
