Greetings & Merry Christmas to all:
The Banister River WMA Christmas Count was completed on December 14, 2003
despite the fact that I awoke to about 1/4 inch of ice on the trees; however
the roads turned out to be in good shape except for a little ice over some
bridges.
The total number of species recorded was 59, of which I was able to find 58 and
my count was over 1800 birds.
Nothing usual was seen and due to rain off and on during the day some species
that should have been seen was missed.
Since it was raining at 7:00 am, I started the day with watching my feeders
from my bay window. They produce several good species including 15 Purple
Finches and House Finches along with Brown-headed Nuthatches.
Once out in the field, I did find two large flocks of sparrows, juncos and
goldfinches that produced 3 Fox Sparrows along with Chipping, Savannah, Song,
White-throated and Field Sparrows. Two White-crowned Sparrows were seen at
Edmund's Dairy Farm for probably the last time as it is being turned into a
park and a housing development.
Due to heavy rain on the Thursday before the count the mudflats at Staunton
River State Park were covered over and thus any chance of finding any unusual
shorebirds were washed out.
The one bright spot for the day was that even with the rain, I did find an
adult Bald Eagle, a Northern Harrier, a Red-tailed Hawk and an American Kestrel.
May God Bless Each of you this Christmas and that the sun will always be at
your back and the bird sitting on the end of a bare limb.
Jeff Blalock
South Boston, VA
(434) 470-8071
jcbabirder@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
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