VA Birders,
Sunday a friend and I birded two areas of Buchanan County hoping to find
sparrows. We were not disappointed. We found Vespers, a Lincoln's, a Savannah,
Field, White-crowned, White-throated, Chipping and Song.
We began by birding the mountaintop park of Poplar Gap near Grundy. There we
found 5 Horned Larks and 18 Killdeer. We were surprised when the Killdeer
suddenly flushed as two Merlins made a half-hearted pass at them, then
continued on into the distance. That's a falcon that we don't see often in our
area.
Shortly after, we found the Vespers and Lincoln's Sparrow then a late Nashville
Warbler feeding on insects among some dead goldenrod and Pokeberry plants. I
later checked Peterson's Warbler Guide and found that some Nashvilles hang
around into late October and even early November.
We later moved to Enoch's Branch Park, where we found a Cooper's Hawk, an
immature Red-tail, large flocks of Cedar Waxwings, a flock of 5 flickers and
more Vesper sparrows and several Yellow-rumps. Photos can be found at
http://www.pbase.com/mayhorn/new_birds&page=3
Roger Mayhorn
Compton Mt
Buchanan County
