Saturday afternoon, March 6th, at about 2:30, Tom Pendleton and I found the
Pacific Loon at the causeway on Route 622 (known as Dike 3) near the
southeastern end of Lake Anna. The bird was fishing on the lakeward side of
the
causeway and was best seen from the point of land beside the parking lot off
the
southeastern end of the causeway. There was a Common Loon nearby for good
comparison viewing. Through our scopes we could see the faint necklace on the
Pacific Loon. The loons gave us good looks between dives. There were also 3
Horned
Grebes present near the opposite end of the causeway close to the shore.
We then drove on around toward the dam at the end of the lake, taking Rt. 701
to Pleasant Landing Road, and traveling west on it to the marina at the lake
shore. Scoping all around from the point, we found two Red-necked Grebes
keeping out of the wind against the northern end of the shore to our left. One
had some rufous on its neck and both had the large yellow bills and long necks.
In addition, a flock of gulls (one Herring and the rest Ring-billeds) flew
over us and up the lake.
Before returning home we went to Lake Anna State Park and found another
Horned Grebe
and a flock of some twenty Lesser Scaup from the boat landing. We left,
exhilarated at finding our two target birds so quickly.
John Irvine
Harrisonburg, VA
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