This morning, I met Paul Glass at Staunton View Park on the borders of
Mecklenburg, Charlotte and Halifax Counties. As we expected, water levels on
the Staunton River were still relatively high which limited any shorebird
habitat. Consequently, we only found a few shorebirds that included single
LEAST and SOLITARY SANDPIPERS and a few SPOTTED SANDPIPERS and KILLDEER. The
most numerous wading bird was GREAT EGRET and they were not very numerous,
numbering about 12 birds. Best bird of the morning was a juvenile LITTLE BLUE
HERON. There was a good selection of the expected land birds, some taking
advantage of the mayfly bounty that is hatching down there right now. The hope
is that water levels will drop over the next month or so exposing much more
habitat. Staunton View can be very productive for a variety of shorebirds and
waders if conditions are right.
After we left, I made a solo stop at the Kerr Dam area. A scan of the lake
above the dam was unproductive with only a couple of RING-BILLED GULLS and some
DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANTS floating around. My next stop was Tailrace Park,
just below the dam. Here I found more interesting birds highlighted by a very
"out of season" COMMON MERGANSER. Also there was another juvie LITTLE BLUE
HERON, a few SPOTTED SANDPIPERS, 1 GREATER YELLOWLEGS and 1 LEAST SANDPIPER. I
attached a couple of ebird lists below for those interested including a not so
great shot of the Common Merg. It was nice to get out and look around. Good
birding.
Adam D'Onofrio
North Dinwiddie.
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S19236581 ;
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S19236730 ;
