Like Alan Larner and his hardy accomplices, I braved
yesterday's
(Saturday, 17 March) chill temperatures and wind for a
day's birding. I concentrated on several Albemarle
County ponds, lakes, and their environs, and saw a
better-than-average number and variety of waterfowl
for Albemarle County, including the first HORNED
GREBES I have seen in this county.
Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by the total
number of species I saw (54 species), given the
conditions, so it proved a better day than I had
expected.
I started Saturday morning at Lake Hollymead, in the
Forest Lakes North subdivision, just east of Rt 29
north of Charlottesville. This was the day's waterfowl
hotspot. The lake hosted 2 HORNED GREBE, 1 PIED BILLED
GREBE, 5 HOODED MERGANSER (2m, 3f), 7 RING-NECKED DUCK
(3m, 4f), a LESSER SCAUP (1f), a RUDDY DUCK (1f), 5
MALLARD (2m, 3f), and an AMERICAN COOT (1).
Chris Greene Lake, just north of the Charlottesville
Airport, held another HORNED GREBE (1), a PIED-BILLED
GREBE (1), a group of 4 RING-NECKED DUCK (1m, 3f), and
an AMERICAN COOT (1).
The water at Lake Albemarle, just south of Garth Road
near White Hall,
hosted only a single PIED-BILLED GREBE (1); but I had
great looks at the
adult RED-HEADED WOODPECKER in the roadside woods near
the vineyard. Also ran into a nice mix of birds in the
woods just above the spillway, including a
nicely-marked PINE WARBLER and 2 YELLOW-BELLIED
SAPSUCKERS.
A relatively short stop and a little pishing at an
appropriate spot along
Jones Mill Road (Rt 811) yielded fine views of approx
20 WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWS, adults and immatures. The
day's only waterfowl bust followed: no birds were on
the water at Beaver Creek.
My day's last stop was the small pond near the
entrance to the Old Trail subdivision golf course.
Here I found a GREAT BLUE HERON, plus a drake RUDDY
DUCK and 3 more RING-NECKED DUCK (1m, 2f) on the
water. While walking near a marshy area adjacent to
the pond, I accidentally flushed a WILSON'S SNIPE,
which flew around for a minute, then settled into a
similarly wet area on the other side of the pond. Also
had a calling COMMON RAVEN fly over here.
As noted by Alan, large flocks of robins and
blackbirds are out and about. The previous Saturday
(10 March) I found a RUSTY BLACKBIRD mingling with a
flock of robins in a damp field near Lake Albemarle.
My complete species list for yesterday follows below,
including some notes re abundance and locations.
Mark Adams
Charlottesville
----------------------------------
SATURDAY, 17 MARCH 2007
Mark Adams
Albemarle County, VA
Abbreviations:
LH - Lake Hollymead
LA - Lake Albemarle
OT - Old Trail pond
BC - Beaver Creek
CG - Chris Greene Lake
JM - Jones Mill Road, Rt 811, "sparrow road"
Pied-billed Grebe, 3 (1 LH, 1 CG, 1 LA)
Horned Grebe, 3 (2 LH, 1 CG)
Great Blue Heron, 1 (OT)
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Canada Goose
Mallard, 5 (LH)
Ring-necked Duck, 10 (7 LH, 3 OT)
Lesser Scaup, 5 (1 LH, 4 CG)
Hooded Merganser, 5 (LH)
Ruddy Duck, 2 (1 LH, 1 OT)
Red-shouldered Hawk, 2 (LA, LH)
Red-tailed Hawk, 1 (OT)
American Kestrel, 2 (LA, OT)
American Coot, 2 (1 LH, 1 CG)
Wilson's Snipe, 1 (OT)
Mourning Dove
Belted Kingfisher, 2 (LA, CG)
Red-headed Woodpecker, 1 (LA)
Red-bellied Woodpecker, 9
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, 2 (LA)
Downy Woodpecker, 4
Northern Flicker, 10
Pileated Woodpecker, 2
Eastern Phoebe, 4
Blue Jay
American Crow
Fish Crow, 4 (2 LH, 2 LA)
Common Raven, 1 (OT)
Carolina Chickadee
Tufted Titmouse
White-breasted Nuthatch
Carolina Wren
Golden-crowned Kinglet, 7 (LA)
Ruby-crowned Kinglet, 2 (LA)
Eastern Bluebird
Hermit Thrush, 2 (1 LA, 1 BC)
American Robin, 200+
Northern Mockingbird, 4
European Starling, 150+
Pine Warbler, 1 (LA)
Chipping Sparrow, 1 (LA)
Field Sparrow, 3
Song Sparrow, 25
White-throated Sparrow
White-crowned Sparrow, 20 (JM)
Dark-eyed Junco (Slate)
Northern Cardinal
Red-winged Blackbird
Eastern Meadowlark, 2 (OT)
Common Grackle, 300+
Brown-headed Cowbird, 4 (JM)
American Goldfinch
House Sparrow
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(END)
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