All,
Todd Day, Mike Day, and I birded Phelps WMA in Fauquier County this
morning. We started about 8:00 and even that late it was still very
cold. Not sure I've been that cold birding this late in April. Not
pleasant. It kept the birds quiet as well but we managed to get a few
year birds each. There were many BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHERS, BLACK AND
WHITE WARBLERS, WHITE-EYED VIREOS, and COMMON YELLOWTHROATS. Still
plenty of WHITE-THROATED SPARROWS hanging around also and we spotted at
least 10 different HERMIT THRUSHES. We rounded out the vireos with 3
BLUE-HEADED and multiple RED-EYED. Todd heard a WOOD THRUSH and a
SCARLET TANAGER that neither Mike nor myself heard. Those young ears
are valuable. A couple EASTERN KINGBIRDS graced us with their
presence. In the wetland cells, many WOOD DUCKS, a singing PIED-BILLED
GREBE (if you've never heard this, it's worth the walk out there just
for that), four SOLITARY SANDPIPERS, and a LESSER YELLOWLEGS. TREE,
BARN, and ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOWS buzzed around. At the north end of the
wetland cells, the sun came out perfectly on the trees (Todd referred to
it as a God moment) and a flock of 30-40 YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERS passed
through. There were several gnatcatchers with them and a NORTHERN
PARULA. Also in the sycamore tree with them, several RED-WINGED
BLACKBIRDS and three male and one female ORCHARD ORIOLE were feasting on
the gumballs or the bugs on the gumballs. We weren't sure. Interesting
to watch anyway. The walk out was very quiet. We tried a couple spots
in that general area for Grasshopper Sparrow but failed to find any in
the cold and the wind.
Todd failed to mention in his post yesterday that we found a very
handsome MERLIN perched in the top of a tree at the Baptist Church in
Marshall.
And now, back the grind,
Sue
--
Susan A. Heath
George Mason University
Environmental Science Department
Fairfax, VA
Secretary, Virginia Avian Records Committee
Keeper, Virginia Comp List at www.virginiabirding.org
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