King and Queen County, Walkerton area.
After savoring a delicious Thanksgiving dinner in
Walkerton I stood on the dock at dusk and noted
the following eBird list at Whitehall along the
Mattaponi River.
Location: Walkerton
Observation date: 11/22/07
Notes: The "mallards" flying over may have
included black ducks and gadwalls whose
silhouettes look the same to me.
Number of species: 13
Canada Goose 350
Mallard 130
Ring-necked Duck 12
Ruddy Duck 2
Great Blue Heron 4
Bald Eagle 1 calling upriver
Killdeer 3
Wilson's Snipe 4
Great Horned Owl 1 hooting downriver
Brown Thrasher 1
Song Sparrow 2
White-throated Sparrow 8
Northern Cardinal 2
The next day around noon there was almost nothing
at the Walkerton bridge. Walker pond on
Canterbury Road had 600 Canada Geese, and a
shallow pond at the bottom of a neighboring
mining pit had 4 green-winged teal, 6 lesser
scaup, 12 coot, 75 Canada geese and 15 Mallard.
King William County Nov 23
Started at The Pocket before sunrise listening to
a Great Horned Owl.
The coots started out all in one huge mass and
then spread out all across the Pocket among the
Elodea/Hydrilla allowing for an easy count.
The biggest surprises this AM were the
yellowthroat next to the Pocket boat ramp and the
flock of Bonaparte's Gulls which flew in and
rested on a mud bar with RBGU.
One blind had hunters in it but ducks and geese
kept their distance and the hunters called it
quits about 8.
There may have been more rusty blackbirds, but I
only heard one perched soemhwere nearby.
Many blackbirds were flying over in flocks of
100-400 but the largest flock of many thousand
blackbirds was eating corn from the recently
harvested fields at Elsing Green(private). I
looked closely for rarities but found none. They
had some remarkable flights as they were chased
by two red-tails who were hanging out nearby.
The pintail, teal, mallard, and black duck
estimates could be low since they were based only
on birds that could be seen resting or feeding in
the marsh and open water as I carefull tried to
count (at Elsing Green) without flushing them.
Certainly there were others that were out of
sight hiding from the hunters.
The fox sparrows were my first of the season.
Canada Goose 1400
Wood Duck 14
Gadwall 85
American Wigeon 12
American Black Duck 36
Mallard 370
Northern Shoveler 51
Northern Pintail 1700
Green-winged Teal 710
Canvasback 1
Ring-necked Duck 140
Lesser Scaup 6
Bufflehead 50
Ruddy Duck 55
Hooded Merganser 5
Wild Turkey 8
Pied-billed Grebe 35
Double-crested Cormorant 3
Great Blue Heron 23
Great Egret 3
Black Vulture 6
Turkey Vulture 12
Bald Eagle 8
Sharp-shinned Hawk 1
Northern Harrier 2
Red-shouldered Hawk 1
Red-tailed Hawk 6
American Kestrel 1 male. Moscow Creek road.
American Coot 1550 (1200 in Pocket)Quite a
splashing sight (and sound) as they flew-pattered
along the surface whenever an eagle passed over.
Killdeer 34
Greater Yellowlegs 3
Dunlin 4
Bonaparte's Gull 22
Ring-billed Gull 75
Mourning Dove 60
Great Horned Owl 1
Belted Kingfisher 3
Red-headed Woodpecker 3
Red-bellied Woodpecker 5
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 3
Downy Woodpecker 4
Hairy WOodpecker 2
Northern Flicker 25
Pileated Woodpecker 4
Eastern Phoebe 5
Blue Jay 9
American Crow 35
Horned Lark 1 flying over, calling
Carolina Chickadee 6
Tufted Titmouse 6
White-breasted Nuthatch 1
Carolina Wren 15
Winter Wren 2
Golden-crowned Kinglet 11
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 12
Eastern Bluebird 44
Hermit Thrush 4
American Robin 49
Gray Catbird 2
Northern Mockingbird 7
Brown Thrasher 1
European Starling 15
American Pipit 65, one flock in a
recently-plowed cornfield
Cedar Waxwing 13 one flock at the boat ramp
Yellow-rumped Warbler 25
Common Yellowthroat 1
Eastern Towhee 3
Chipping Sparrow 10
Field Sparrow 12
Song Sparrow 75
Savannah Sparrow 4
Fox Sparrow 3
Swamp Sparrow 7
White-throated Sparrow 45
Dark-eyed Junco 65
Northern Cardinal 12
Red-winged Blackbird 13,600
Rusty Blackbird 1
Common Grackle 2050
Brown-headed Cowbird 5
American Goldfinch 22
In the afternoon I drove up to the Beulahville
area of King William county.
Location: Riverwood on the upper Mattaponi R.
Observation date: 11/23/07
Notes: Just a quick visit to check on things,
not a thorough survey. Purple finch was calling
as it flew over. BAEA was a majestic adult
soaring overhead in the crisp blue windy sky.
Deer hunter Kenny Crouch said he flushed out 2
bobwhite near the gate, 15-20 turkeys along the
woods road, and 15-20 wood ducks in the river
this morning.
Number of species: 37
Wild Turkey 1
Black Vulture 4
Turkey Vulture 4
Bald Eagle 1
Red-tailed Hawk 1
Mourning Dove 6
Red-headed Woodpecker 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 2
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 1
Downy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker 7
Pileated Woodpecker 2
Eastern Phoebe 2
Blue Jay 5
American Crow 5
Carolina Chickadee 5
Tufted Titmouse 2
Carolina Wren 5
Winter Wren 1
Golden-crowned Kinglet 5
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 3
Eastern Bluebird 4
Hermit Thrush 4
American Robin 10
Gray Catbird 1
Northern Mockingbird 2
Brown Thrasher 2
Yellow-rumped Warbler 6
Eastern Towhee 7 among the pokeweed
Field Sparrow 3
Song Sparrow 5
White-throated Sparrow 20
Dark-eyed Junco 5
Northern Cardinal 6
Red-winged Blackbird 15
Purple Finch 1
American Goldfinch 4
Also along router 628 nearby I found the
following:
Large flock of grackles and starlings was eating
corn in the field here. Surpised that I saw no
RWBL in this flock.
Great Blue Heron 1 Green Pastures Pond
Killdeer 7 near GP pond in a plowed field
Red-shouldered Hawk 1
Red-tailed Hawk 1
European Starling 1000
Common Grackle 7000
All the best
Fred
Frederick D. Atwood fredatwood@xxxxxxxxx
Flint Hill School, 10409 Academic Dr, Oakton, VA 22124
703-242-1675
http://www.agpix.com/fredatwood
http://www.flinthill.org
http://tea.armadaproject.org/tea_atwoodfrontpage.html
