All,
Dave Wendelken and I birded Blandy farm today. We didn't get there until 10:30
but the birds were still very active. We
walked and birded for over 5 hours around the estate. We covered the feeders
behind the
library and the feeders closer to the parking area. We also hit Rattlesnake
Spring and covered the area just SE of the Wetlands where the Common Redpoll
(CORE) has been seen
(CORE directions: from thr pavilion above the Wetlands cross the road and head
SE
i.e. slightly uphill and away from the wetlands/drying out pond to a
row of tall Evergreens that runs perpendicular to pond).
We also covered the field with the Shrike near the weather station NE section
of Blandy.
We did get the White-winged Crossbill, just one
female type at the first Evergreen on the right directly behind main building.
One of the first birds of the day too. We heard it first and then
located it at the very top of the Evergreen. It was quite vocal and rather
loud and I expected to find several birds but either the bird was alone or it's
comrades were better concealed.
My target bird for the day however was the Common Redpoll now reported by
several birders over the last few days. Apparently the joy of finding a
Redpoll is to be reserved for another day as we came up empty on that score.
We did manage to locate the Loggerhead Shrike which was a county bird for me,
and a Rusty Blackbird at the wetlands. The Shrike put on quite a show hunting
actively and stashing it's victims for future meals on short thorn trees
scattered around the meadow. Impaled prey on the 3-4 trees we inspected
included; 1 snail, several spiders, numerous grasshoppers and one small rodent
probably a vole or field mouse of some sort.
For details see eBird list below.
best,
William Leigh leightern@xxxxxxx
Bridgewater, Virginia
Date: Wed, 21 Nov 2012 18:52:29 -0500
From: do-not-reply@xxxxxxxxx
To: leightern@xxxxxxx
Subject: eBird Report - Blandy Experimental Farm / State Arboretum of
Virginia - MFR06, Nov 21, 2012
Blandy Experimental Farm / State Arboretum of Virginia - MFR06, Clarke, US-VA
Nov 21, 2012 10:20 AM - 3:20 PM
Protocol: Traveling
3.0 mile(s)
Comments: Counts above 10 birds are rounded to nearest value of 5.
38 species
Black Vulture 60
Turkey Vulture 5
Sharp-shinned Hawk 1 adult
Bald Eagle 1 immature dark belly white in axillaries
Red-shouldered Hawk 1 immature
Red-tailed Hawk 2
Red-bellied Woodpecker 2
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 2
Downy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker 3
Loggerhead Shrike 1 /p near weather station NE section of Blandy
Blue Jay 10
American Crow 50
Common Raven 1 /h
Carolina Chickadee 5
Tufted Titmouse 5
Red-breasted Nuthatch 10
White-breasted Nuthatch 2
Brown Creeper 1
Carolina Wren 1
Golden-crowned Kinglet 1
Eastern Bluebird 3
American Robin 10
European Starling 210
Cedar Waxwing 1
Field Sparrow 1
Song Sparrow 3
Swamp Sparrow 1
White-throated Sparrow 15
Dark-eyed Junco 30
Northern Cardinal 5
Red-winged Blackbird 1 male
Rusty Blackbird 1
Purple Finch 1
House Finch 2
White-winged Crossbill 1 non-adult male
Pine Siskin 15
American Goldfinch 5
View this checklist online at
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S12127214
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (http://ebird.org/VA)
