I happened to be in the vicinity of Stumpy Lake in Virginia Beach around
10:30 this morning (5/7/02) and figured I'd make a two-minute detour to see
if anything of interest was around. I scanned both sides of the causeway as
I came in and saw little other than a Pileated Woodpecker flying over and
several Prothonotary Warblers calling. I continued to the clubhouse parking
lot and turned around to head out. When I got back on the causeway, there
was a large truck stopped in the middle of the causeway with the driver and
his buddy off to the side tossing sticks in the lake. I pulled in front of
the truck and stopped for a while, figuring I wasn't blocking traffic any
more than the truck was. Glancing to my left (west), I saw a dark bird
soaring. Sure enough, it was an Anhinga. A couple of seconds later it was
joined by another...and another...and another...and another...and
another...and another. An incredible total of seven birds soaring together
above the west end of the lake! There appeared to be 4 males and 3 females.
One of the birds dropped down and perched in a cypress tree while the others
continued to soar. Within a minute or so, however, the guys in the truck got
back in their vehicle and kind of encouraged me to move along, so I couldn't
continue to watch the show. Hope they all stick around.
David Clark
Norfolk, VA
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