[va-richmond-general] Fowled Up

A friend and I drove down to Hog Island on Sunday afternoon. On the way back, 
we stopped to scan the ponds outside Upper Brandon Plantation and drove through 
Shirley Plantation. We went mainly looking for waterfowl to take pictures of 
of. WE saw nearly all of the expected wintering species between the three 
sites, with a few exceptions (no Pintails or Scaups of either kind). The 
surprise was what seemed to be a Greater Yellowlegs in the pond at Hog Island 
by the observation platform. However, it occasionally bobbed its head as it 
stood in the water. I looked in several different sources and saw no 
information about them ever bobbing their heads, which made me wonder if it 
really was a Greater Yellowlegs. I attached two pictures of it, so hopefully 
someone can tell me for sure what it was and if they've heard anything about 
them ever doing head-bobbing. Here is a complete list of what we saw by area:

HOG ISLAND WMA:
Canada Goose - 100's
Brown Pelican - 10, in various plumages
Red-winged Blackbirds
Carolina Wren
Gull sp. - 50+ on rock jetty
Bald Eagle - 3 (2 adults, 1 imm.)
Great Blue Heron - 5 (at least 3 in breeding plumage)
Double-crested Cormorant - 36
American Crow
Tufted Titmouse - 1
Great Black Back Gull - 1
Hooded Merganser - 7 (3 airs + 1 other female)
Yellow-rumped Warbler - 1
Tundra Swan - 30+ (picture is from Upper Brandon)
Herring Gull - 2
Greater Yellowlegs (?) - 1
Belted kingfisher - 1
Mallard - 2
Ruddy Duck - 93 (most in the river)
Ring-necked Duck - 100+
White-throated Sparrow - 3
Eastern Bluebird - 4
Killdeer - 2 (the one in the picture was at Upper Brandon)
Bufflehead - 2
Red-breasted Merganser - 8 (way out in the river)
Northern Harrier - 1 (male)

UPPER BRANDON: (with the exception of the Mallards and Killdeer, all numbers 
are estimates)
Tundra Swan - dozens
Canada Geese - dozens
American Widgeon - 4
Ring-necked Ducks - 20
Northern Shoveler - 20 (mostly in flight)
Mallard - 2
Killdeer - 2

SHIRLEY:
Canada Geese - 100's
Bufflehead - 10
Ruddy Duck - 15
Redhead - 2 (a pair)
Killdeer - 1
Ring-necked Ducks - 12
Gadwall - 2
Green-winged Teal - 15

Good birding
Michael Shapiro
Richmond, VA

Attachment: Greater Yellowlegs (2).jpg
Description: JPEG image

Attachment: Greater Yellowlegs (3).jpg
Description: JPEG image

Attachment: Killdeer.jpg
Description: JPEG image

Attachment: Tunda Swans (2) - Upper Brandon.jpg
Description: JPEG image

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