[va-bird] birding in the counties of kings george and william

The highlight of my birding on Nov 25th and 26th
was certainly the high number of coots--more than
I have seen ever in Virginia.  They were abundant
in hydrilla patches in The Pocket of the Pamunkey
River in King William (930) and the King George
Ponds (375) especially La Grange Rd pond (335)
which last year had very few birds of any kind
and this year is chock-full.  It is also the most
accessible of the King George ponds (but stay on
the paved road; don't even step on the grass.) 
Also a late blue-gray gnatcatcher was at The
Pocket in King William. Third highlight was three
beautiful wood ducks at my property in Leedstown
in wonderful late afternoon light reflected in
the calm water of the beaver pond which was
rimmed by ice. 

It's mid-quarter and I have lots of
student-comments to write so I don't have time to
give the complete list but here are the
highlights.

@ KING GEORGE PONDS Nov 25, 2005
1 cackling goose among 1950 Canadas
2317 ring-necked ducks (about 90% male)
35 male and 25 female mallards
33 male and 33 female gadwalls
13 male and 13 female hooded mergansers
1 female common merganser
14 tundra swans
495 ruddy ducks (about 35% male)
2 male, 2 female redheads
2 male 22 female canvasbacks
8 lesser scaup
10 male 11 female american wigeons
4 male 6 female buffleheads
2 kestrel
1 horned grebe
9 pied-billed grebe
5800 laughing gulls
3500 ring-billed gulls
2 bonaparte's gulls
1 adult and 3 immature badl eagles

@KING WILLIAM COUNTY (mostly The Pocket and
Elsing Green, both along the Pamunkey River Nov
26, 2005)
Canada Geese 1300
Green-winged Teal 275
Black Duck 10
Mallard 145
pintail 184 (about 20% male)
shoveler 15
gadwall 125
ring-necked ducks 410 (about 2/3 male)
lesser scaup 40 (about 2/3 male)
bufflehead 175 (83% female)
2 pair hooded merganser
245 ruddy ducks (about 75% female)
a roost of 210 black vultures at The Pocket and
another roost of about 50 black and 60 turkey
vultures near the bridge over the Mattaponi near
Walkerton.
57 killdeer
7 lesser yellowlegs (4 along the Mattaponi River)
2 forster's tern
3 snipe
5 adult and 2 immature bald eagles 

Also looked unsuccesfully at dusk for short-eared
owls at Mothershead (Rappahannock RIver Valley
NWR in Leedstown (Westmoreland County), and at
WHite Oak Marsh along the Mattaponi in King and
Queen (from the King William shore).  I had
harriers at both locales.

Also saw a barred owl and heard 3 great-horned
owls in Leedstown (2 at Mothershead where
hundreds of mallard-type silhouettes were flying
over to roost in the nearby marshes).

All the best
fred

Frederick D. Atwood     fredatwood@xxxxxxxxx
Flint Hill School, 10409 Academic Dr, Oakton, VA 22124
703-242-1675     
http://www.agpix.com/fredatwood
http://www.flinthill.org
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