Greetings,
Over the past two days, I've been to the sod farms in the Remington area of
Fauquier and Culpeper Counties three times, morning and afternoon on 8
September (Wednesday), and morning of 9 September (Thursday). Sue Heath was
with me
twice (not Wednesday morning). I also spent time here on 3 and 6 Sep.
On the Culpeper side, which is seen best from Route 673 (Newby's Shop Road)
about one mile north/east of the intersection with Route 674 (Kelly's Ford
Road), we've had the following:
American Golden-Plover, adults transitioning into basic plumage, 5 on 3 Sep,
2 the other three days. Found originally by Sue.
Semipalmated Plover, one bird 6 Sep, seen by me only.
Killdeer, hundreds, every visit. I've made no effort to count them.
Upland Sandpiper, 2 on the afternoon of 8 Sep.
Ruddy Turnstone, one juv on 9 Sep, found by Sue. If anyone has records of
this for Culpeper County, please drop me a note.
Semipalmated Sandpiper, 4 on 9 Sep.
Least Sandpiper, 12 on 9 Sep, a few juvs.
Pectoral Sandpiper, 2 on 8 Sep in the afternoon, and at least 2 on 9 Sep.
Buff-breasted Sandpiper, 2 on the morning of 8 Sep, seen by me only.
Wilson's Phalarope, one juv. on the morning of 8 Sep in a downpour, seen by
me only.
Unidentifieds. At one point on the morning of 9 Sep, we watched as several
hundred birds appeared out of the field when hawks flew over. The vast
majority of them were Killdeer, but there were many other shapes and sizes with
them.
They flew to the west mostly, and we never refound the flock.
Other birds seen or heard here have been 28 Bobolink, 3 Blue Grosbeaks, a
Cooper's Hawk, a Red-tailed Hawk, an adult Bald Eagle, many Horned Larks (many
young), and hundreds of swallows, mostly Barns, but with a few Cliff, Bank,
Tree, and Rough-wingeds too.
Anyone that is interested in birding this spot, please be careful. The road
is narrow, and there isn't much shoulder. I park on the south side of the
road just east of the yellow sign denoting a curve in the road. What is tricky
is that not far from where I park is a blind bend in the road, and cars heading
east give a wide berth to my parked car and me, and it could be problematic
if cars are coming the other way. Best thing to do is park well away from the
bend in the road, off the road, and be alert to the traffic. A scope is a
must here. The fields were recently turned, and are currently "clumpy" and the
birds get lost behind the clumps. The recent rain has left a few good wet
areas, but I don't imagine it will stay that way for long. They also might
smooth
over this area, which without standing water is less appealing to these birds
seemingly.
On the Fauquier side, viewed from Routes 651 and 654, a mile or so south of
Remington is an area of dirt that has been smoothed over. A plastic green
netting has been laid over much of the field, but it doesn't seem to bother the
birds, though most were seen in wet areas that didn't have the green mesh.
Seen
here:
Black-bellied Plover, 4 still showing mostly adult alternate plumage on 9
Sep, 3 on 8 Sep.
Killdeer, lots, but not hundreds.
Semipalmated Sandpiper, one on 8-9 Sep.
Least Sandpipers, 3 on 8-9 Sep.
Pectoral Sandpiper, one on 9 Sep.
Long-billed Dowitcher, one juv on 9 Sep. Heard calling as it flew several
times, and seen well, albeit distant. This might be the first for Fauquier
that
I know of.
While standing on Route 654 on 9 Sep, Sue and I watched a group of about
30-40 shorebirds fly overhead. Certainly the dowitcher was in this group, and
seemingly the peep, but there was also a group of 10 or birds intermediate in
size between the dowitcher and the peep, and we presume them to have been
Pectorals. What's most maddening about this is we never saw this group of
birds
while it was on the ground, and only had a few seconds in the air to study
them.
It can be frustrating and tricky birding out there.
Other birds here include Bobolinks, a group of five or six Kestrels that hang
around on wires together, up to 100 Horned Larks (with many young), and
smaller numbers of swallows than mentioned above.
If birding here, it is probably best to pull onto Route 654 and work the
field with the sun at your back. Traffic on this dead end road is minimal, but
some of the folks that live there don't seem thrilled by birders. The turf
farm
folks are pretty good about it, as long as we stay off the grass. There are
also a few tractor-trailer trucks that travel the road as part of the sod
operations.
One additional spot we checked on the morning of 9 Sep was north of
Remington, across US 29, and just a bit north of the intersection of 651 and
658
(Cemetery Road) on Route 658. There is a plowed field here that is smooth, and
it
has some standing water. Here was a juv American Golden-Plover, one
Semipalmated Sandpiper, 8 Least Sandpipers, and about a dozen Killdeer.
Cheers,
Todd
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Todd Michael Day
Jeffersonton, Virginia, USA
Culpeper County
BlkVulture@xxxxxxx
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