Just on a wild hair I decided to drive into Greenfield today, hoping some of
the terns going through might stop for a visit. The wind was blowing and it was
cold for an April afternoon. Immediatly I noticed that the water was down and
there was a lot of exposed mudflats, and I could see the shorebirds running
about before I even parked my car.
Walking down the path on the southerly side I was able to scan pretty well
and found lots of SPOTTED and SOLITARY SANDPIPERS, about 20 of each, and 2
GREATER and
4 LESSER YELLOWLEGS. There were 2 GREAT EGRETS on the far side hunkered down
against the wind, and an OSPREY fishing further down the lake. Most
interesting, and I came close to overlooking them because I saw initially a few
blackbirds flashing red in the wings, was a group of about 20 RUSTY BLACKBIRDS
feeding on the flats. I can't ever remember seeing that many Rusty's together
in Botetourt County. With the water down the potential for good birds there
exists. I'm surprised that there were not more species of shorebirds today.
Good luck hunting.
Tad Finnell
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