Plenty of blackbirds still to go around!
As many guessed, the flock was way bigger than my no-count, quick-look
estimate. The actual count from the photo was around 1,400; one thousand
more birds than originally estimated. Count photo has been attached to the
checklist.
I had a flyover American Pipit flock at Pine Ridge Farm this evening and
did a counting estimate by 10s, arriving at 130. I later photographed the
flock as they rose again from the farm fields. The closer estimate was
about 170 birds. Take photos whenever you can and even save some of the
blurry ones for future reference!
-Evan
On Thu, Mar 1, 2018 at 7:24 AM, C. Michael Stinson <myrmecocichla@xxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
It's also time for the first Osprey to return to one of the nests at
Briery, or maybe another spot.
Mike
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On Wed, Feb 28, 2018 at 3:32 PM, Evan Spears <e3spears@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
If you've been out and about recently you may have noticed quite a bit
more bird activity than compared to the past few quiet weeks. I've been
seeing a few more hawks than usual and even had really nice looks at
several of them in one field in under 10 minutes along Francisco Road in
Buckingham County.
--- https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S42720120
Blackbirds also have begun to appear in our region. A few of us have
already witnessed some massive flocks of mostly Common Grackles and
Red-winged Blackbirds with the occasional Brown-headed Cowbird group or a
single/few Rusty Blackbirds mixed in. I passed a large flock on Holiday
Lake Road in Appomattox County a week ago and had to estimate quickly, so I
snapped a picture of the majority and wrote down my estimate on the eBird
checklist.* How many blackbirds do you think are in the photo? I've
counted them all using multiple photos and will reveal the answer after
several guesses.*
--- https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S43240012
You'll also notice I have two Tree Swallows on that previous list, and
there were nearly 40 at Sandy River Reservoir a few days ago (along with
our thinning duck flocks). Expect to see even more birds in the coming
weeks with our next arrivals being more swallows in mid-March and then
Louisiana Waterthrush and Yellow-throated Warbler at the end of the month.
--- https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S43236307
--- https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S43236285
--- https://ebird.org/view/checklist/S43254381
Evan Spears
Farmville, VA
--
C. Michael Stinson
Dillwyn, VA
