[va-bird] Good Geese and a Glaucous Gull-King George/Louisa

Today was one of those magical days when everything just seems to be clicking 
bird-wise.  After hearing from Bev Leeuwenburg that she had not relocated the 
Cackling Goose found by Jay Keller at Lake Fairfax yesterday,  I decided to cut 
out from work early and head over to King George County. As, I was leaving the 
North Anna Power plant in Louisa Co, I noticed a huge flock of gulls 
congregating on Lake Anna.  Just had to stop and take a look.  As I scanned the 
mixed species flock (which numbered around 1300 gulls), I noticed a very white 
gull moving in front of a Great Black-backed Gull and noted this bird was 
nearly the same size and had a two-toned bill- Wow, a Glaucous Gull in first or 
second winter plumage (# 335 on the year list).  A boat later came by and put 
the birds up giving a good look at the Glaucous in flight.
When I got to the ponds along Rt 3 just east of the Stafford/King George County 
line, I began to scan the huge flocks of geese.  In particular, I was hoping to 
relocate the Cackling Goose that Fred Atwood had here earlier this week.  
Altogether, I looked through approximately 15,000 Canada Geese and found among 
them 3 Cackling Geese (2 "Richardson's" C. hutchensii hutchensii, and 1 
"Cackling" C. hutchensii minima) and a single Ross's Goose. Technically the 
Cackling was a life bird and #336 on the year and the Ross's made #337.

The gull flocks at Lake Anna move about the lake quite a bit.  If you are 
looking for the Glaucous Gull, you may want to try Rt 614,(and its side roads 
690, and 1201) off of Rt  652, Rt 622 where it crosses the Dike near the dam, 
or the area where Rt 208 crosses the lake.

Good Birding,

Mike Boatwright--
Amherst, VA

You are subscribed to VA-BIRD. To post to this mailing list, simply send email 
to va-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx To unsubscribe, send email to
va-bird-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field.

Other related posts: