Hello, birders.
Elisa Enders and I birded part of Northern Virginia
with the hopes of seeing some uncommon and rare
species. We pretty much missed our target birds but
had fun in the cold anyway.
On Saturday morning we met up at Julie Metz wetlands
in Prince William Co. A walk around pods 2, 3 and 4
produced 3 common sparrow species: SONG, SWAMP,
WHITE-THR., plus a couple of FOX SPARROWS. We got a
brief look at a HERMIT THRUSH after it gave it's
rising "pay" and heard a R.C. KINGLET. Most of the
activity was centered on the east end of pod 4. We
counted about 15 FLICKERS, mostly feeding on the
ground in the wet areas. We missed one of our target
birds, Am. Tree Sparrow. We also missed seeing
Harris' and Clay-colored. Before we left, flurries
appeared and then some light snow fell. My
thermometer read 29 degrees F.
Next stop was the boat marina just east of here, at
the mouth of Neabsco Creek. The creek was mostly
frozen but did hold some of the common waterfowl and
gulls. I think the snow stopped by the time we left.
The temp. had risen slightly.
We then checked out the Prince William County landfill
near Independent Hill. There were about 10 other
birders there, mostly arriving at the same time we
did. It was nice to have so many eyes focused on the
gulls. The snow started to fly again, and it was a
little colder here. The dump held at least a few
thousand gulls but the only uncommon ones that we
found were 3 adult LESSER BLACK-BACKED. Elisa heard
an AM. PIPIT fly overhead, which the other birders
later showed us. It was walking along the almost bare
ground. Everyone got great looks at this bird. A
nice flock of songbirds was feeding in an edge area at
the bottom of the hill, on the way out of the dump.
Next, we drove to the Aden and Nokesville areas of
western Prince William County. The snow had stopped
by then but the temperature in the mid-afternoon was
only 22 degrees. We missed our hoped for bird,
Rough-legged Hawk, but we did see a few of the common
raptors. We stopped at the Methodist church parking
lot, along Fleetwood Drive, which is about .8 miles
south of the intersection with Aden Road, and walked
across the road to view the nearby farm. We saw 8
BREWER'S BLACKBIRDS, a RED-WINGED, and a couple of
COWBIRDS
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