[va-bird] No. Virginia Saturday notes, 1/27/07

VA BIRDers,

 

Here is a note on today's birding highlights, all in Northern Virginia.
Yes, the Greater Yellowlegs were at the Great Marsh - the total was 6.  Also
tallied at this location were 7 Tundra Swans, ca. 400 Am. Black Ducks, 15
Mallards, 2 Northern Pintail, 8 Hooded Mergansers, and 2 Common Mergansers.
Before Mason Neck I visited Pohick Park which had 250 American Coots plus
200 Lesser Scaup and 8 Bufflehead plus the usual dozens of American Robins.
During my stop at Occoquan Marina I added 2 Gadwall, 110 Mallards, 1 Greater
Scaup, 50 Lesser Scaup, 45 Bufflehead, the two Common Goldeneye mentioned by
Jay and 2 lone Ruddy Ducks.  Also included were 2 Pied-billed Grebes, a few
American Coot, and the typical 3 winter gulls. 

 

My visit to the Prince William County Landfill also netted the 2 Lesser
Black-backed Gulls mentioned by Jay Keller.  My tallies of the notables
were:

 

Bald Eagle 6

Cooper's Hawk 1

Ring-billed Gull 3000

Herring Gull 1000

Lesser Black-backed Gull 2

Greater Black-backed Gull 50

Fish Crow 80 

Common Raven 1

E. Starling 2000

 

As I left the landfill, I noted a couple of Black Vultures and a Red-tailed
Hawk.

 

I traveled to Loudoun County, finding the Loggerhead Shrike at the same farm
found on the Central Loudoun CBC  - near Rt 15, about 200-300 yds north of
the Little River, east side of the road.  It was in trees/bushes near barn
outbuildings, as viewed from the highway.  This location is about 15 minutes
north of I-66 and 15 minutes south of Leesburg.

 

I then went to Beaverdam Reservoir. The recent freezing pushed many birds
into the lake (not entirely frozen) which also had a good piedmont gull
showing with one adult Lesser Black-backed Gull.  The numbers were:

 

C. Goose 175

Am. Black Duck 12

Mallard 40

Northern Pintail 2

Ring-necked Duck 72

Bufflehead 10

Hooded Merganser 18

Common Merganser 78

Ruddy Duck 2 

Bald Eagle, 2nd yr, actively hunting the lake-birds.

Ring-billed Gull 525

Herring Gull 22

Lesser Black-backed Gull 1

 

Heading back to Fairfax County, I watched the sunset at Bull Run Post Office
Road and managed to hear one American Woodcock peent.  Also noted were 1
Red-shouldered Hawk, 2 Red-tailed Hawks, 1 Common Raven (on power lines) and
1 Fox Sparrow.  There were neither harriers nor Short-eared Owls.

 

The raptor tally for the day was:

 

Bald Eagle 19

Northern Harrier 1

Cooper's Hawk 1

Red-shouldered Hawk 11

Red-tailed Hawk 7

American Kestrel 3

 

Kurt Gaskill

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