I spent a good portion of the day birding in Botetourt and Roanoke
Counties checking ponds for ducks and whatever else I could find. It was cold
and
very windy with snow showers off and on which made a lot of birds scarce. I ran
into Clark and Stephanie Hill at Carvins Cove. They had already found a male
COMMON MERGANSER, a COMMON GOLDENEYE, a female LESSER SCAUP, a male BUFFLEHEAD,
and a HOODED MERGANSER. While we were still at the cove we spotted an adult
BALD EAGLE perched in a tree across the lake. Also present were a few
RING-BILLED GULLS. Moving on to Murray's Pond, apparently the same TUNDRA SWAN
that
had previously been hanging out at Greenfield is now spending time here. Also
present were 15 GREEN-WINGED TEAL, 3 CANVASBACK, 2 GADWALL, several RING-NECKED
DUCKS, 5 BUFFLEHEAD, 28 CANADA GEESE, a PIED-BILLED GREBE, a GREAT BLUE HERON,
and a KINGFISHER. From Murray's Pond I headed out to Greenfield and counted
45 GADWALL, 15 MALLARDS, 1 REDHEAD, a CANVASBACK, a BLACK DUCK, several CANADA
GEESE, and 2 AMERICAN COOTS. Clark Hill flushed a covey of 15 BOBWHITES here
yesterday! At nearby Daleville Pond there was a lone male HOODED MERGANSER
and 60 more Canadas plus 40 deer in Bobby and Andy Biggs' yard. Several of
these
ducks I've mentioned were previously reported by Tad Finnell earlier this
week. From Greenfield I drove out to Fincastle to look for more geese on George
Moore's farm but the pond was frozen and there were no geese in the pastures
and it was too cold and windy to look for the Red-headed Woodpeckers. At nearby
Martin's farm I found a flock of 25 WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWS hunkered down in a
bush next to an out bldg. On the way home I made a second stop at Layman's
Pond in Amsterdam and spotted a large flock (165) of Canadas grazing in the
pasture (the pond was frozen). In the midst of the Canadas was a lone CACKLING
GOOSE. This is the same location where we had a Cackling Goose and a Barnacle
Goose at the same time 3 years ago. The Cackling Goose seen today is noticeably
grayer than the previous one.
Also this morning while birding along the Roanoke River in Salem, I counted
265 RING-BILLED GULLS in one flock on Eddy St. beside the river. Also on the
river in Salem was a PIED-BILLED GREBE and a pair of HOODED MERGANSERS.
Mike Purdy
Roanoke
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