Va-Birders,
Sharon Lynn and I tried to find Upland Sandpipers in the Remington
area today, but found nary a one. We bumped into Gerry Weinberger
whose hopes were similarly dashed. We scoured all of the Woodward
Turf Farm from both Normans Ford (Rt. 654) and Sumerduck Roads (Rt.
651). "Turf Farm" is kind of a misnomer now, since about half of it
is planted in soybeans. Maybe the Uppies have decided soybean fields
are not to their liking and have moved on?
We found only one Dickcissel. It was near the intersection of
Savannah Branch (Rt. 668) and Sumerduck Roads. We glimpsed it fly and
then heard it sing repeatedly from deep in the field. This species is
not usually hard to see, once it is heard, since it favors high
perches such as telephone wires and posts, but this bird remained
illusive.
We still found a few of those little gems of the fields, Grasshopper
Sparrows, who posed and sang for us along Grassdale Road (Rt. 755).
We saw males, females, and a scruffy juvenile. We heard a few
elsewhere in the area as well. We also enjoyed watching a couple of
Horned Larks foraging on some exposed bare ground on the sod farm
property and found Meadowlarks everywhere.
Paula Sullivan
Alexandria
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