Greetings...
This could be titled "Chasing and Waiting." I did a lot of both this
weekend, not to mention driving.
Friday afternoon I left Manassas to pick up my traveling companion for Part
One of the weekend, C. Michael Stinson (the "C" is for CatThumper) at his
home down Farmville way. Our first stop was to get a so-called Bank Bird.
The Great White Heron that Mike reported a couple weeks back. The bird was
right where Mike had left it, and we were able to get it and head on south.
That makes it sound a bit easier than it was, but we'll just move on.
With all this talk about Isidore coming up the middle of the continent and
heading northeast, we thought South Holsten Lake might be worth a look. That
and the fact there are Eared Grebes to be had there. I suppose I could roll
the dice and wait for an Eared Grebe to drop in a bit closer, but these birds
should be down there for the taking. Not to mention that I honestly set
forth on this quest to see many parts of Virginia that I never have. Well,
now I've seen a bit more.
We pulled into Bristol, VA at about one-fifteen; got a room just north of
town, and crashed somewhere around three, wired from the drive. We
overslept, and got out of the room by a little after eight AM. When we
finally got to Musick's Campground and South Holsten Lake, it was about nine
AM. Musick's is described in previous posts by Wallace Coffey. At the log
book, there was a report of six or seven Common Terns there from the previous
day. I don't recall the observer's name.
When Mike and I got out of the car, it was only a couple minutes before we
located five Eared Grebes. They were to the east, and firmly in Tennessee.
They sort of moved north and south a bit, but never as far as we wanted them
to. This is the idiocy of listing. We moved positions twice, trying to line
ourselves up with the state line so that when they crossed it, we would be
easily able to tell. This resulted in us heading over to Washington County
Park, and sitting on concrete picnic tables awaiting the whim of those five
little divers to pack up and come to VA. I grabbed a stick and a pocket
knife while Mike stayed ever vigilant.
While we waited, we did manage a few birds, most of them in Tennessee. They
included a Peregrine Falcon, Bald Eagle, a dozen or so Broad-winged Hawks, a
Merlin, six Ring-billed Gulls, a few Rough-winged Swallows, phoebes,
White-eyed Vireo, a Double-crested Cormorant, and maybe six Pied-billed
Grebes.
Seven hours and fifteen minutes after we got there, the Eared Grebes crossed
into Virginia. They stayed there for about five minutes before returning to
Tennessee. We didn't last much longer. We split from there pretty fast, and
headed north to do a bit of county listing, only after watching a mystery
Sterna fly around in the sun for a bit.
It was at about six-thirty PM when my plans for the rest of the weekend
became clear. Mike and I were birding behind a K-Mart in Wythe County when
Fenton Day called with word about a Fork-tailed Flycatcher up in Bath. It
sure beat heading to the Eastern Shore, which was my original plan. I
muddied things up a bit though when after dropping Mike off at home at about
ten-thirty, I decided to head back home to Culpeper County. It was about a
two hour jaunt, and I was in bed asleep by one AM. Of course this only
allowed for about three-and-a-half hours of sleep, so that I could get on the
road with my Dad at four-forty-five. Off we went, and we arrived at the
Coursey Springs Fish Hatchery a bit before eight AM. Dan something (sorry
Dan) from Falls Church was there before us, walking around a bit in the fog.
We met up and headed to the spot where the bird had been seen the day before.
As previously reported, we dipped on it. I stuck it out until about two PM
before heading over to Highland County to search for a couple things. A
handful of birders came and went, however Fenton Day arrived and hung out for
a few hours. It was great birding, and a fine way to spend a morning. I was
able to tick off fifty species for my Bath County list (it started at zero)
while virtually sitting in one location. Most interesting perhaps was a King
Rail that called twice. It was a call I'd only heard on tape before, and
confirmed it later. Also present were a Lincoln's Sparrow, a young Mourning
Warbler, a Loggerhead Shrike, a Wilson's Snipe, an immature Red-headed
Woodpecker, a pair of Osprey, several Kingfishers, Blackpoll Warbler, Palm
Warbler, Black-throated Green Warbler, a Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (the only
regular woodpecker that we missed was Hairy), three pigeons, a Rose-breasted
Grosbeak, many young phoebes, and a Sharp-shinned Hawk. This is another
annoyance about listing. In any other year, getting a Mourning Warbler, a
Lincoln's Sparrow, a shrike and a snipe would usually qualify as a pretty
satisfying day of birding. However, I can't deny that I was a bit
disappointed at having not gotten the flycatcher. May I never become so
focused on getting a new bird again. Well, not until after 31 December.
My father and I then headed to Highland. Not much to report from here, and
mostly it was a sight seeing tour, my dad never having been there before.
About the most notable birds were a Bald Eagle at the intersection of Route
220 and 625, and a Barred Owl that responded to me at the hairpin turn just
west of the Confederate Breastworks. Secretly I had hoped to stumble upon
some crossbills, but for the fourth or fifth time this year, I didn't find
any out there.
My odometer probably rolled off another thousand miles, and my sleep minimum
was pushed past its limit. However I did get birds 325b. and 326. The Heron
and the Grebe.
Cheers...
Todd
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Todd M. Day
Jeffersonton, VA
Culpeper County
BlkVulture@xxxxxxx
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