Greetings...
On Sunday my father and I made a late morning decision to head to the CBBT
hoping to find the King Eider reported yesterday by Ned Brinkley. We arrived
on Island One at about twelve-thirty, but found it crowded with fishermen.
Only gave it a quick check for the eider and didn't find it. For the next
ninety minutes or so we checked islands two through four, and for ducks,
found only a single Mallard off of Two and a hen Red-breasted Merganser on
the rocks of Four.
We left the islands to check the reported Eurasian Collared-dove near
Magotha, and bird a bit on Magotha Road. Magotha Road was first, and didn't
see much there. Did see the Pileated Woodpecker that Ned reported yesterday,
doing some excavation. Ovenbird calling from the woods, and a few Pine
Warblers and Gnatcatchers around. One Wild Turkey hen flushed from the edge
of the woods near the marsh.
The Collared-dove was at the intersection of Route 600 and Route 645, on the
east side of 600. I searched for it for a couple of minutes and saw or heard
only grackles. With some gentle prompting, it started to call from a perch
in a tree.
From here we went back to the Tunnel-Islands, starting with Four for another
search for the King Eider. We were striking out on Four when two kind women
in a white car told me they had just seen it on two. We skipped down there
and sure enough, it was off the south end, on the ocean side. A beautiful
hen. I think, but I am not sure, that this was at about three-thirty PM. I
don't know what time the bird was seen off of Island Four, but it might raise
the possibility of two birds.
We wrapped up at the CBBT. Different from the totals that Ned posted
yesterday were the gannet numbers, I counted about two hundred in my north
bound jaunt, and the lack of ducks. I saw no scoters and just a couple
Red-breasted Mergansers. I didn't see any terns either, though I was looking
for a duck mostly.
A not-so-quick ride across VA Beach to Stumpy Lake was quite rewarding. The
trees near the entrance had much warbler activity, though most were
yellow-rumpeds. About twenty birds were flitting about, and except two
Prairie Warblers and one White-eyed Vireo, they were all yellow-rumpeds that
I could see. There were a few Gnatcatchers around gathering lichens. A
prothonotary warbler was calling from the dense cypress in the smaller part
of the lake.
Also present was a first year Anhinga (if the amount of white on the back is
a reliable indication). I am always impressed at how their Band-Aid colored
necks look like fur and not feathers. The bird was first roosting on a low
trunk sticking out of the water, eighty yards north of the causeway. It then
flew to a tree a bit closer and higher up. I carefully went through all the
other water turkeys (as the man and his daughter not so sneakily fishing from
the causeway called them) looking for other Anhingas, but didn't find any. A
steady stream of cormorants were coming into the lake around five-thirty when
we headed home. It was a great end to a nice, slow paced day of birding.
Cheers...
Todd
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Todd M. Day
Jeffersonton, VA
Culpeper County
BlkVulture@xxxxxxx
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