VA BIRDers.
I started at Lorton before sunrise (0645) tallying 3 Am. Woodcock at Furnace
and Lorton Rd at the old house that is now part of a park parking lot.
Another peenter was near the new horse rider parking lot nearby to the south
& west of Furnace Rd.
I then drove to Belmont Marina and tallied a few ducks including 2
Red-necked Grebes and a Common Goldeneye plus 5 Tree Swallows. I then moved
to Occ. Bay NWR, where the gates open at 7am, passing through at about 0705.
One of the first birds noted was a Short-eared Owl flying about a foot off
the pavement just past the contact station on the left hand side of the
road. It ducked into the grass but showed its buffy wing stripe/patch. This
is my first record of this species at OBNWR.
Near the parking lot at the new blind overlooking the small pond was a House
Wren singing. I walked down the trail to the fork and then heard a Sedge
Wren singing about 25 yrds beyond. Given that both species were present in
this area in Dec/early Jan it seems likely these are the same birds and have
overwintered at this locations. Amazing!
I ran into Marc Ribaudo at The Point and have nothing to add save for how
birdy this location was today. I then sped to Prince William Forest Park
using Breckinridge Reservoir Rd off of Joplin Rd and tallied 2 Pine Warblers
singing unbidden.
I traveled south to Stafford Co and Elton Morel's post covers my meager
sightings record at Aquia Landing SP. This was a bit after noon and my
species tally was 79. I headed back north and visited Pohick Regional Park
and found 5 Red-necked Grebes plus some scaup and coots. Burke Lake added 12
more Red-necked Grebes and both scaup plus 5 more Horned Grebes (I tallied
21 HOGR today which is a big number for No. VA). I stopped at Burke Lake and
added 12 more Red-necked Grebes (I tallied 20 RNGR today) plus more Greater
Scaup. Cooper's Hawks were noted enroute. After a haircut, I visited
Huntley Meadows and added 2 No. Shovelers on the main pond plus others (Wood
Duck, Gadwall, Am. Black Duck, Mallard, No. Pintail, Green-winged Teal,
Ring-necked Duck, Bufflehead, Hooded and Merganser) as well as this season's
wintering Red-headed WPs. The water level is very high and the sparrow
numbers were dismal. I finished the day at 83 species which includes 19
species of duck.
Kurt Gaskill
