Greetings,
Sue Heath and I birded Fauquier this morning from about eight AM until about
two PM. We didn't have much of an agenda, figuring we'd let the weather
dictate the activities. We started at the private Airlie Reservoir in the
mist
and fog, went northwest from there to the Thompson Lake area, came back
through Rectortown, and ended up at Harrison Road.
Airlie Reservoir was quite interesting. When we arrived, there were eight
loons on the lake. By the time we had left, we counted twenty-five of them,
all but one as they took off the reservoir. It appears they arrived as we
walked away from the lake, and then left. There isn't enough hidden on this
lake that we would have missed them. We also saw sixty cormorants depart the
lake (there was only one as we arrived), and the watched forty land on the
lake. Might have been a portion of the same birds, but it didn't seem that
way.
Other evidence of lots of movement among water birds was the Great Blue
Herons. We first had ten fly over us, and then noticed six or eight in trees.
Soon after we had a few Great Egrets seen flying away, and then another group
of Great Blues was in view. It was impossible to tell what was happening, as
we had a ceiling of only a few hundred feet. We had four Great Egrets in
view at once, and possibly eight total. There were at least a dozen Great
Blues in view at once, but likely there were a couple dozen of them out here.
We
also had fifteen Red-breasted Merganser hens, all seen leaving the lake.
There was a flock of gulls left unidentified in the fog, but we did have one
low immature Herring Gull close enough for a good view. Other ducks were at
least eight Ring-neckeds, four Bufflehead, four Blue-winged Teal, a pair each
of Green-winged Teal and Gadwall, ten or so Wood Ducks, a few Mallards and
Canada Geese. A Green Heron was also here.
Along the edges and in the sky were many Chimney Swifts, Barn Swallows,
Rough-wingeds, and Trees. At least ten singing Yellow Warblers were heard, a
single Prairie, an Ovenbird, a dozen or more Myrtles (only a couple singing),
at
least a dozen Ruby-crowned Kinglets, a hummingbird, a Solitary Sandpiper, ten
or so Common Yellowthroats, lots of Gnatcatchers, a couple Thrashers,
singing Towhees, good numbers (fifteen or more) of singing White-throats, two
Kingbirds, a White-eyed Vireo and a couple House Wrens among the more expected
stuff.
From here we went up to Leeds Manor Road which runs along the eastern (and
lower) edge of G. Richard Thompson WMA, an historically a good spot for a few
warblers, vireos and orioles. No love on the Orioles, but we did have a
singing Warbling Vireo, and a silent male Yellow Warbler. It was late in the
morning, which might have accounted for the silence, though it was one of
those
gray days where birds tend to sing a little more. Farther down the road we
visited Thompson Lake, where there was a pretty Common Loon. It took off,
circling the lake they way they sometimes do to gain altitude, and then
splashed
back down. False alarm. Up the trail to where there once was a few
Blue-winged Warblers we were met with mostly silence. Gnatcatchers were still
wheezing, a couple towhees were singing, and a Hermit Thrush came in to
pishing.
We detoured a bit up to Sky Meadows to see what might be singing there, but
found little of note. Two Common Ravens and a couple more Kingbirds were
about it. Took Carr Road (710) to the bridge over Goose Creek (also 710, but
called Rectortown Road here). There are nesting Cliff Swallows under the
bridge, but none appeared in the twenty minutes we spent. We did have a
singing
Warbling Vireo and Yellow Warbler. About a dozen Rough-wingeds were about,
they nest in the banks here. Two Barred Owls were heard calling and doing the
monkey thing.
All morning we had been seeing a few hawks in the sky, seemingly at all
times. Probably would have been a great day on a ridge facing south. We had
a
few Broad-wingeds, accipiters, and a lot of Osprey. At one point we had five
Osprey and a Broad-winged streaming out of a kettle. Never had that many
osprey in one group before. All told we probably had about fifteen Osprey
today, which might be my best for Fauquier.
Harrison Road didn't have much. There were four Greater and three Lesser
Yellowlegs on the shoreline of the pond, a pair of Gadwall hiding in the
grass,
and a spotted sandpiper (one at the pond on Belvoir as well). I'm probably
forgetting something else, like I forgot my notebook this morning.
Regards,
Todd
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Todd Michael Day
Jeffersonton, Virginia, USA
BlkVulture@xxxxxxx
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