Hello all
This afternoon Pat & I went out to the Swoope area first to see if the rains
dropped any Shorebird migrants in . The only good place for any Shorebirds
would of been Smith's Pond where the water drops during the summer months which
in turn develops some fairly good mud flats . Well the only Shorebirds there
this afternoon were one Solitary , two Spotted & three Semipalmated Sandpiper.
Also there were 23 Wood Duck . But the best bird found there were four Sedge
Wren's singing away on the back side of the pond . After leaving Smith's we
were delighted with a male Northern Harrier hunting in an open field on Livick
Rd. ( Rt. 707 ).
Our next stop was Leonard's Pond in Rockingham County ( Rt. 678 ) . This
northern pond in the past has had some very good Shorebird migrants . To say
the least we were not disappointed . At Leonard's Pond were a small number of
Shorebirds but the best bird was a Baird's Sandpiper . Below is a list of all
Shorebirds seen there this afternoon .
Semipalmated Plover -- 1
Killdeer -- 4
Solitary Sandpiper -- 1
Spotted -- 2
Pectoral -- 7
Least -- 3
Baird's -- 1
All in all not a bad afternoon of birding in two Counties .
Allen & Pat Larner
Staunton
