Hello VA-Birders,
I planned a route for this morning that took me to places likely to pick up
some northern VA January birds, which included areas around Lorton, including
the Fairfax Co Landfill, as well as Belmont Bay, Pohick Bay, the Prince William
Co Landfill, and Nokesville.
Top birds for the area today were likely Thayer's Gull (more below), Lesser
Black-backed Gulls, Merlin, and Northern Harriers in two locations.
I started pre-dawn at Sandy Run Park near Fairfax Station, and heard fairly
distant GREAT HORNED and BARRED OWLS. Attempts to locate a Red-breasted
Nuthatch in appropriate pine habitats was once again fruitless - obviously few
around with a bumper seed crop up north.
After sun-up at the Lorton Fairfax County Landfill (by permission) I was
looking for grassland birds such as Longspur, Bunting, Pipits, etc, but found
none of those. Perhaps a snowfall is needed to concentrate them. Gulls are
not in big number at this landfill, as there is no longer suitable refuse being
brought there. I did find a surprise NORTHERN HARRIER on the landfill cap that
had managed to capture an EASTERN MEADOWLARK, which are often found up there.
I did find 8 more on another part of the cap. After a while, I saw a small
falcon powering by and then it circled a few times and appeared to land out of
view. It was observed long enough to see that it was a handsome adult MERLIN,
another surprise. I observed a juvenile Peregrine up there a couple of weeks
ago, so it is a good spot for birds of prey. A couple of SAVANNAH SPARROWS
were noted as well.
On to Pohick RP - with duck hunters around it was not very productive. Two
NORTHERN SHOVELERS flew past without stopping, however. Next at Belmont Bay
marina, there were two COMMON GOLDENEYES not far off the platform offering
excellent views among several other duck species. I watched a hunter here
shoot a Mallard, which kept floating away from him as he attempted to retrieve
it from the water but he finally got it after much effort.
On to the Prince William Landfill. It was slow going for about 45 minutes
with nothing notable found. However, after an adult BALD EAGLE made a couple
of passes, everything was put in the air. When they settled, I found two
LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULLS on the hillside to the left of the designated parking
area, one adult, and one sub-adult. The sub-adult was interesting in that its
bill was lightly-colored at the base, with a black smudgy area in the middle,
with a pink nail area at the tip.
After more searching, I happened upon a very interesting gull. It was
standing next to two Great Black-backed Gulls and a couple of Ring-billeds for
comparison, and was probably about midway between the two in terms of size. It
was a first winter bird, and quite pale on the face and breast. I thought it
might be a dark version of an Iceland Gull with its rounded crown, etc, but
when it turned to show its primaries, I noticed that they were fairly dark, and
just a little darker than the mantle. Its bill was dark, as well as the iris,
with dull pinkish legs. I would describe the mantle as mottled with a cream
over darker color. When it flew, it showed primaries that were not too much
darker than the rest of the wing, and a broad tail band that was perhaps 1/2 as
dark as the typical Herring Gull. I was prepared to leave it as a dark
Iceland, but the tail bank and primaries seem to point toward Thayer's so I
think it is reasonable to call the bird a Thayer's (for those
of you that actually accept that Thayer's is a separate species than Iceland).
I cautiously approach this subject on an open forum, as I know there are
strong opinions out there! I was not able to get photos of the bird,
unfortunately.
Other than those three gulls, it was fairly typical fare at this landfill.
The RAVEN was very active and vocal today as well. No Golden Eagle was seen.
Has anyone seen that recently?
My final stops were in Nokesville, trying to locate more grassland birds and
perhaps a blackbird flock. There were a couple of KESTRELS on the wires and a
female NORTHERN HARRIER, but not much else. I went to Colvin Lane in search of
the Canada Goose flock that contained the Ross's, but could not find a single
Goose! While standing on Colvin, I was very lucky to have a HORNED LARK
calling as it flew overhead.
Take Care,
Jay Keller,
Arlington
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