Yesterday morning (10/27) while trying to make the best of spending 2 days at
the Virginia Baptist Hospital in Lynchburg with my wife Sandra who was having
surgery, i birded around the hospital grounds and ran into a whole mess of
birds around the far end of the parking lot off Vasser Street near the end of
Oak Lane. Best bird by far was a late (Gold Book late date for the piedmont is
Oct 24) PHILADELPHIA VIREO that was feeding with a mixed flock which included
titmice, chickadees, yellow-rumps, both kinglets, Blue-headed Vireo, Carolina
Wrens, Grey Catbird, Mockingbird, 3 Hermit Thrushes, 6 Eastern Bluebirds,
Y-bellied Sapsucker, Yellow-shafted Flicker, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Downy
Woodpecker, Brown Creeper, White-breasted Nuthatch, Winter Wren, White-throated
and Song Sparrows, and Northern Cardinals. Also had a flock of 18 Fish Crows
flying around the hospital calling.
Yesterday afternoon, I came home to check on our pets and ran by Mill Creek
Lake in northern Amherst County to look for the Northern Pintail and
Green-winged Teal found there earlier in the day bay Mark Johnson. I easily
found both birds at the bridge that crosses the lower end of the lake on Rt
778. On the main body of the lake off Rt 610, I saw the flock of 26 Ruddy Ducks
that have been there for the past week or so and also saw 5 American Coot.
This morning around 1100, I ran back up to Mill Creek while waiting for
Sandra's prescriptions to be filled. The pintail and teal were still hanging
around with the Mallard flock at the bridge along with 5 Black Duck and a male
Gadwall. The flock of Ruddies was still on the main body of the lake along
with 8 Pied-billed Grebe.
Cheers,
Mike
Michael R. Boatwright
