FreeLists / va-bird / [va-bird] Upland Sandpiper, sparrows, Fauquier County, 6 May 2002

[BlkVulture@xxxxxxx]

On Monday evening in an attempt to find Horned Larks in a past breeding spot, 
I stumbled upon an Upland Sandpiper.  This bird was along Route 654 in 
Fauquier Count, just south of Remington.  This spot appears in historic 
literature for this species as Sumerduck.  

Last May I had an Upland at the same spot, never seeing more than one.  
Different this year is that the bird was in a plowed field west of the turf 
farm.  Last year I only saw the bird on the turf.  654 runs west for 651 at 
the US Military Warrenton Training Center.  It is a large fenced area with 
many radio towers.  The Woodward Turf Farm is on the west side of 654, and 
currently has a tall crop growing (that looks a lot like winter wheat) that 
prevents seeing much of the grass from 654.  Fortunately the sandpiper wasn't 
on the turf tonight.  I watched the bird from a couple hundred feet away 
between seven-fifteen PM and eight o'clock.  

There were three pairs of Horned Larks in the plowed fields.  Horned Lark was 
observed feeding young here last June.  Savannah Sparrow was singing and 
seen, and a Vesper Sparrow was also here working the edge of the road.  654 
has little or no traffic (except when the trucks loaded with sod leave in the 
morning).  It is a safe place to pull over and stand along the road scanning 
fields.  

Also heard here tonight were Northern Bobwhite and a barking Ring-necked 
Pheasant.  There is an outfit somewhere in Remington that is known to release 
game birds in the name of training dogs.  Whether this happens to this day I 
am not totally sure.  Regardless, pheasants out there are pretty stringy if 
you are tallying up a year list.  

At eight-fifteen I was at the access road to the fishing pond at Phelps WMA 
listening for Whip-poor-wills.  It was a tough night for it with much wind.  
Temp was 69 when I started, and 66 when I finished at nine PM.  I only had 
five calling birds tonight in eight stops along a three-quarter mile stretch. 
 I suspect the conditions were the reason for so few birds.  Again it was 
nice to hear the other sounds this species makes.  The synthesized cat meow 
noise (only way to describe it to my ear) and the wet "whip" whistle that 
they give.  One circled me repeatedly against a still lit sky giving this 
call, probably because I was giving it back to it.  This whistle seems very 
similar to the first note in their call, but a bit wetter, shorter, and maybe 
a tad deeper. 

It was a fun evening out in southern Fauquier. 

Best...

Todd 

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Todd M. Day
Jeffersonton, VA
Culpeper County
BlkVulture@xxxxxxx
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