[va-richmond-general] Re: Black Swan viewing party

Irene,

One small point on the iridescence off the Bufflehead male head: It wasn't
really a spot, but the curved head, which is black, reflects light and
refracts it into red, green and blue zones, or really the whole rainbow. The
"spot" moves depending on the angle at which the light strikes the head.
It's best viewed head-on or almost so. It also occurs when any black area on
the duck is seen. You really need to be using a scope to see it unless you
are really close. Also, the subdued, diffused light today probably made it
much more easy to see. In bright sunlight I doubt it would be noticed
because of the greater contrast.

Linda & I also saw a Red-bellied Woodpecker and about 20 Canada Geese at
Swift Creek near the boat ramp. The geese were smaller than  the ones I
usually see.

Al Warfield

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "IE Ries" <FEATHERCHASER@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <va-richmond-general@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Sunday, December 26, 2004 4:50 PM
Subject: [va-richmond-general] Re: Black Swan viewing party


  Team Diehard Birders (the Warfields, Jan Johnson, Irene Ries) braved the
cold, the overcast skies and the low temperatures to look for the swan.  On
the way down, I saw a Red-shouldered Hawk flying on the Chesterfield airport
side of RT 10 as I was going to meet up with everyone.

  While we didn't see our Mysterious Cygnus, we did see the following
beauties:

  American Robin
  Carolina, Winter Wren
  Pileated, Red-bellied Woodie
  Song, White-throated Sparrow
  Bufflehead Duck (lovely antics and we discovered the irridescent spot on
their heads)
  Gadwall
  Mallard Duck
  Wilson's Snipe
  Killdeer
  Dark-eyed Junco
  Blue Jay
  Northern Cardinal
  Carolina Chickadee
  Tufted Titmouse
  White-breasted Nuthatch

  Jan and I then took a cruise up RT 288, looking for turkeys.  No turkeys
out on the grasslands by the margin of the woods, but we did see two
Redtailed Hawks cruizing overhead.

  Cheers!

  Irene on Southside




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