Hola,
Before the ducks, I'm going to mention taking a drive on I-66 west from exit
28 (Marshall) to exit 6 (Front Royal), 22 miles (Fauquier and Warren
Counties). I had conservatively 20 Red-tailed Hawks, three Red-shouldereds,
three
Kestrels, and two accipiters that I couldn't get on. Seems like a good count.
The pond on Harrison Road in Fauquier had 21 Tundra Swans on it, about half
of which were immature, unusual for the location, and I don't see many in
migration away from Snickers Gap. We do get them out here, but I don't run
into
them every year, at least not more than a few at a time. A hundred-acre
lake on private grounds in Fauquier had a good showing of recently-arrived
waterfowl and grebes. I had 12 Canvasbacks, about 12 Red-breasted Mergansers,
6
Horned Grebes, 35 Ruddy Ducks, one Hooded Merganser, and half-a-dozen scaup
that looked like greaters, but probably weren't. It was quite foggy and
misty,
thus hard to get a clear look at any of these things. There were also about
a dozen Bufflehead and fifty or so Ring-neckeds, both of which have been
here for a few weeks. I was at this same location on 20 November, and only
the
Bufflehead and Ring-neckeds were present. We also watched a pair of bald
eagles add sticks to a nest here 20 November; they fledged two young here in
2004.
There was a group of swans here as well, but too distant with the fog to see
if they were wearing collars, thus I can't say if they were part of the
collection at this lake or not.
Bill Sladen showed me two Tundra Swans on one of his ponds 20 November at
Clifton Farm in Fauquier that were banded last fall or winter with collars.
Interesting that they're back. I can't recall whether he said they spent the
winter there or just stopped off last year or not.
I'm hoping other folks happened to check some bodies of water today. No
telling what might be about.
Cheers,
Todd
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Todd Michael Day
Jeffersonton, Virginia, USA
BlkVulture@xxxxxxx
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