VA-Birders,
I checked three different haunts of waterfowl around Fauquier County this
afternoon, finding some decent birds.
At Harrison Road, near The Plains, there was a flock of over 500 Canada
Geese, and with them was one adult Greater White-fronted Goose. The birds
were distant and the slight undulation of the field made it difficult to keep
this bird in view as the flock was grazing while at a slow march. The
birds were in the field just next to the pond on the eastern end of Harrison.
The pond was entirely frozen. A couple of Harriers were also on Harrison
Road, as were a few Killdeer.
The pond on Belvoir Road just a little west of Harrison had a similar
number of Canada Geese, a bit of water being kept open by a fountain, and only
a
few other ducks, including American Black Ducks and Bufflehead.
My last check was at Crockett Park near Midland (sometimes referred to as
Germantown Reservoir). This is a county park that has an honor-based fee
for access in the winter for vehicles not registered in the county. This
lake very rarely has large numbers of birds, but today was exceptional.
There were over 5000 Canada Geese present either standing on the ice, the
shoreline, or swimming. Among the geese was a single blue Snow Goose, at
least
six Cackling Geese, and a big fat whitish mutt that at a distance might
look a bit like a Snow Goose. This bird is bigger than most of the Canada
Geese present.
Other birds at Crockett Park included 18 Tundra Swans, two handsome drake
Common Mergansers, two American Wigeon, 16 Black Ducks, 22 Mallards, 30
Ring-necked Ducks, six Bufflehead, six Hooded Mergansers, 25 Ruddy Ducks, and
one Horned Grebe.
Two Red-breasted Nuthatches and a Fox Sparrow were in the woods on the
edge of the pond.
Cheers,
Todd
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Todd Michael Day
Jeffersonton, Virginia
Culpeper County
blkvulture@xxxxxxx
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