Dear VA-birdersThe Northern Virginia Teen Bird Club was thrilled to get nice
close views of the sandhill cranes in the farm field right at the entrance to
Farley Vale farm as we made our final stop on today's field trip. We had missed
them on our first stop there. We also carefully scoped the flock of about 500
laughing gulls (far fewer than normal). The gulls were in good light and not
very far away but we could not find any Franklin's Gulls. There were a few
Bonaparte's gulls in the flock. At LaGrange Lane we carefully scoped all
visible pools from various angles but could not find the hudsonian godwit. We
did find 2 short-billed dowitchers, both yellowlegs and some dunlins. The most
exciting find here was a Peregrine which zoomed in low over the pond, flats,
and pools and flushed up a dowitcher which it pursued higher and higher into
the sky without success.
Please, please, please obey the instructions of the landowners in both of these
locations. At LaGrange Lane, the road is public, but the land on both sides of
the road is not, so please stay on the road. Regarding Farley Vale, I received
an email from the owners of Farley Vale today who again urged me to pass on
their instructions to stay on the section of the lane that is near route 3.
This section of the lane parallels route 3 and gives good views into all parts
of that pond. They also say to stay on the lane, and not to go into the fields
or down around the ponds. This quote from her email is particularly important"
I would hate to see this whole thing get out of control and then have to post
signs and put up a locked gate" One birder told the owner of the property that
the lane (Farley Vale) was public property. Nope; it is private property.
I feel a little to blame for the difficulty the landowners have had because of
my report, so I am considering not posting any of my finds from private
properties to VA-Bird, and not sending in my ebird lists until long after they
were seen.
SincerelyFred Atwood
