[va-bird] Loudoun Co, 1/21/05

VA BIRDers,

Rich Rieger and I visited a few sites in Loudoun Co looking for speices 
recently reported.  Our first stop was Beaverdam Reservoir.  No Red-throated 
Loon.  In fact, it was mostly dullsville - 6 Pied-billed Grebes, a handfull of 
Common Mergansers, a single Bufflehead, some Mallards, a Black Duck, 7 Hooded 
Mergansers and a few Ring-billed Gulls.  Our consolation bird was a female 
Common Goldeneye.

We headed over to Riverside Park to look for the Orange-crowned Warbler refound 
by John Drummond yesterday.  It took awhile, but found it when the ca. 50 
sparrows flushed from vegetation along the trail near the river close to the 
red-stained bridge.  I saw it fly up and out over the Sycamores.  We never 
refound.  Rich missed it, so the consolation birds were 2 American Tree 
Sparrows.  (Also found 3 E. Towhees and a Yellow-rumped Warbler taking the 
west-bound trail, I suppose only Andy knows what I am referring to).

We then headed out to Montressor Rd. looking for the Rough-legged Hawk reported 
by Larry Meade. Dipped on this one (and no shrike, either) - we noted 10 
Red-tails, 1 Red-shoulder, 1 adult Bald Eagle (seen in the direction of the 
ferry landing as we drove north on Rt 15), and 5 American Kestrels. There is 
this one Red-tailed Hawk that does a great hover while hunting.  Our 
consolation species were a group of 5 E. Meadowlarks mixed in with some E. 
Starlings in one of the fields. 

Kurt Gaskill

PS I should mention that Sherman Suter and I were out yesterday and found a 
fine collection of Common Mergansers at Burke Lake and the UOSA pond in Fairfax 
Co - all told, about 630 birds.  Also an Eastern Phoebe at UOSA - not easy to 
find around here after the temperatures drop below freezing for several days!
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