Virginia birders,
I apologize for my previous, incomplete post on the
same subject. I rarely compose e-mail from my Yahoo
e-mail account. The "Save as a Draft" button is right
next to the "Send" button, and I hit the wrong button
while composing. Below is the completed post.
I spent the majority of yesterday's (Saturday, 18
March) daylight hours birding Lake Anna with Jenny
Gaden, Amy Gilmer, Virginia Johnson, and Brenda Tekin.
Our primary goal was waterfowl, so we focussed on the
lake surface more than the surrounding fields and
woods. It was certainly a pleasant field trip, with
sunny and cool weather, though a bit more wind than
would have been optimal.
There were plenty of birds, and we succeeded in seeing
a nice variety of waterfowl, including: COMMON
LOON, HORNED GREBE, PIED-BILLED GREBE, DOUBLE-CRESTED
CORMORANT, WOOD DUCK, MALLARD, NORTHERN SHOVELER,
LESSER SCAUP, BUFFLEHEAD, COMMON MERGANSER,
RED-BREASTED MERGANSER, RUDDY DUCK, and AMERICAN COOT.
Among the COMMON LOONS was a spectacular individual
in alternate plumage, seen close to the shoreline
at the Dike #3 causeway on Rt 622. Several of the
HORNED GREBES were molting toward alternate plumage.
The WOOD DUCKS (including 2 battling males), LESSER
SCAUP, and BUFFLEHEAD were seen from the Lake Anna
State Park. The relatively shallow water where Rt 522
crosses the Pamunkey River held good numbers of
RED-BREASTED and COMMON MERGANSERS, and a group of
RUDDY DUCKS. The NORTHERN SHOVELER pair and a couple
MALLARDS were at Terry's Run Marsh along Rt 651, at
the lake's northwest end. The AMERICAN COOTS were on
the sheltered water at the marina on Rt 208.
TREE SWALLOWS foraged over the water at several
locations. The two immature BALD EAGLES were observed
near the end of our day, when we were at the Pleasant
Point Marina on Rt 701. One of these birds was
incessantly chasing a gull. As we watched this chase,
which took place a fair distance across the lake, a
cloud of gulls arose and swirled around for awhile,
perhaps disturbed by the eagle's ire.
Our complete species list follows my signature, below.
I want to thank Mike Boatwright, whose detailed
suggestions about birding Lake Anna were very helpful
and much appreciated by our entire group.
Mark Adams
Charlottesville
-------------------------------------------------
SATURDAY, 18 MARCH 2006
LAKE ANNA
SPECIES LIST
(s = several, fc = fairly common, c = common)
Common Loon, 8
Pied-billed Grebe, 8
Horned Grebe, 12
Double-crested Cormorant, 1
perched atop a buoy, Dike-3
Great Blue Heron, 6
Black Vulture, s
Turkey Vulture, c
Canada Goose, fc
Wood Duck, 8
Mallard, 4
Northern Shoveler, 2 (1m, 1f)
Lesser Scaup, 3 (with the Bufflehead)
Bufflehead, 3 (2m, 1f)
Common Merganser, 17 (4m, 13f)
Red-breasted Merganser, 9 (6m, 3f)
Ruddy Duck, 10 (4m, 6f)
Bald Eagle, 2 imm (1 chasing a gull)
Red-shouldered Hawk, 2 (Terry's Run Marsh)
Red-tailed Hawk, s
American Kestrel, 2
Wild Turkey, 1 (Lk Anna SP entrance)
American Coot, 5
Killdeer, 1 (Lk Anna SP)
Bonaparte's Gull, 30+ (sev locations)
Ring-billed Gull, 100+
Herring Gull, 5 imm
Mourning Dove, 2
Belted Kingfisher, 2
Red-billed Woodpecker, 3
Downy Woodpecker, 1
Northern Flicker, 2
Pileated Woodpecker, 2
Eastern Phoebe, 4
Blue Jay, c
American Crow, c
Tree Swallow, 8
Carolina Chickadee, s
Tufted Titmouse, s
White-breasted Nuthatch, 3
Carolina Wren, 2
Ruby-crowned Kinglet, 1
Eastern Bluebird, 11
American Robin, c
Northern Mockingbird, s
Brown Thrasher, 1
European Starling, c
Cedar Waxwing, 15 (a flock on Rt 601)
Yellow-rumped Warbler, c
Pine Warbler, 2
Eastern Towhee, s (heard)
Song Sparrow, c
Swamp Sparrow, 1 - 2
White-throated Sparrow, c
Dark-eyed Junco, c
Northern Cardinal, c
Common Grackle, s
Brown-headed Cowbird, 2
Purple Finch, 3
American Goldfinch, fc
-------------------------------------------
(END)
You are subscribed to VA-BIRD. To post to this mailing list, simply send email
to va-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx. To unsubscribe, send email to
va-bird-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field.
