VA Birders,
I finally made it down to the Northern Neck this past weekend--I stayed in
Fredricksburg and spent Saturday birding at the ponds on Rt. 605 in King George
Co., and at Washington's Birthplace, Westmoreland Co.
Heading east from Fredricksburg on Rt. 3, I stopped first at the ponds on
Rt. 605, which is the road just east of the ponds on the right-hand side of Rt.
3 that you can see from the highway. This country road doesn't have much
traffic, and there are lots of places to pull over and get out and put up a
scope. It is a very short distance to the first 2 ponds, one on each side of
the road. The pond on the west side of the road had at least 1 Mute Swan and
15 Tundra Swans as well as Canada Geese, Ruddy Ducks, and Ring-billed Gulls.
The pond on the east side had 1 female Common Merganser, Ring-necked Ducks,
Buffleheads, and more Ruddy Ducks. At a second pond on the east side, just
beyond the first one, I found all 3 mergansers, with both sexes of each
species. I thought it was especially interesting that there were at least a
dozen females and only 1 male Hooded Merganser. I saw 3 Red-breasted
Mergansers, of which 2 were males, and several Common Mergansers of both sexes.
(The Mute Swan and Common Mergansers were both my first of the year.)
At Washington's Birthplace, I found 4 Mute Swans and up to 100 Tundra
Swans; a flock of about 40 Greater Scaup and 1 Canvasback (both year birds);
and another group of about 20 Common Mergansers from the back deck of the
Visitor Center and the Picnic Area. I also saw my first 2 Ospreys near the
Visitor Center, and my first Forster's Tern from the Picnic Area. I found a
few Surf Scoters and perhaps 50 Bufflehead as well as 1 Horned Grebe in the
river, but no Common Goldeneyes (my other target bird) anywhere. However, it
was a very pleasant trip.
Good birding,
Val Kitchens
Arlington, VA
