VA BIRDers,
I went out late looking for a few unusual species - I did not find my
targets but there were some sightings that would be of general interest. At
the intersection of Harrison and Belvoir Rds was a very large flock of
mainly Common Grackles - nearly all were in the trees. I looked through
them for something unusual and only a Brown-headed Cowbird on the ground
with small contingent of the flock was found. I scoped the mass in the
trees and found a few bronze types. I tried counting and got to about 1500
for the birds along the edge of the trees along Belvoir Rd when the birds
took flight in an utterly amazing display with exceptional coordination!
They moved south across the corn field and I was convinced the number was
near 4000 and I could not find anything other than Common Grackle. It was
majestic.
A few minutes later I stopped to view Belvoir pond and to the south were
more blackbirds - it probably had a small group of the grackle flock but
after these dispersed about 150 Red-winged Blackbirds and a dozen Rusty
Blackbirds remained.
My other interesting sightings were not so unusual as I tallied a few Common
Ravens and an Eastern Phoebe outside of Upperville along Willisville Rd. At
sunset I went to Rectortown Rd and noted 4 Short-eared Owls in excellent
light - lots of vocalizations! A photographer at the site said that 7
Short-eareds flew out yesterday.
Kurt Gaskill
