[nnasnet] common gallinule, glossy ibis, kingbird, 18 foy: upper northern neck
- From: Frederick Atwood <fredatwood@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: Virginia Bird <va-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 16 Apr 2012 13:47:34 -0700 (PDT)
Yesterday I spent the day birding in King George and Westmoreland counties in
the upper Northern Neck. I spent the morning at the King George ponds along
route 3 near Sealston, some of which require special permission to access, and
at Wilmont Rd which goes to Wilmont Landing at Rappahannock River Valley NWR
Toby's Pt tract. The last part of Wilmont Rd is closed to traffic due to cliff
erosion of the road so it requires a little bit of walking, but it is a
wonderful walk through woods to the Rappahannock R. (Keep way back from the
road edge at the cliff which looks like it will collapse any minute.) In the
afternoon I went to Muse Rd (end of 624 overlooking the Potomac) and then on to
a few locations in Leedstown.
Here are the highlights of the 100 species found, followed by the totals for
the day.
King George Ponds (66 species)
1 COMMON GALLINULE. My first for the Northern Neck; in beautiful breeding
plumage. And my 200th bird for the county! If you are eager to look for this
bird, let me know so I can contact the landowner to ask about access. She has
been generous about granting access in the past.
1 Eastern Kingbird FOY This seems quite early.
8 Grasshopper Sparrows FOY
1 Dunlin
3 Lesser Yellowlegs FOY
1 Pectoral Sandpiper FOY
lots of Common Yellowthroats and Yellow-throated warblers all day, both FOY
Brown thrashers (8) Field Sparrows (7) and Meadowlarks (9) singing all over the
place. NICE blend of sounds!
Very few waterfowl: 3 shovelers, 3 green-winged teal, 2 blue-winged teal, 1
mute swan, 8 ring-necked ducks, 41 gadwalls, 4 mallards, 2 lesser scaup, a
bufflehead, 10 pied-billed grebes, and 67 canada geese.
Wilmont Rd (King George Co) 48 species.
The following FOYs:
2 Great Crested Flycatcher
Vireos: 3 White-eyed, 2 Yellow-throated, 2 Red-eyed
Warblers: 3 Ovenbird, 5 Parula
Also, non FOY....
Yellow-throated Warbler gathering nesting material (10 singing here)
2 greater yellowlegs
Muse Rd (Westmoreland Co)
The only waterfowl was 1 female ruddy duck
There were also several forsters terns, cormorants, eagles, and ospreys
Leedstown (Westmoreland Co) 73 species
4 GLOSSY IBIS (foy) feeding on frogs and other things in a farm managed for
wildlife
This pond also had lots of ducks and shorebirds including:
12 gadwall, 45 blue-winged teals (my highest count for northern neck/middle
peninsula), 20 green-winged teals, 12 lesser yellowlegs, 2 greater yellowlegs,
2 dunlin, 4 snipe.
Other FOYS in Leedstown were
Bobwhite (3 locations) They were probably here all winter but are only now
evident as they sing.
Prothonotary Warbler (1)
Prairie Warbler (1)
Caspian Tern (1)
There were also 2 white-crowned sparrows still present here singing
beautifully, but I saw/heard no juncos all day.
As I finished off the day at sunset looking into Drake Marsh, a harrier glided
over, upsetting all the redwings who had been displaying atop the cat-tails and
saplings, changing their onkalees into shrill whistles. Two species of teals
zipped and zig-zagged into the marsh their wings whooshing not far overhead, a
smattering of snipes called as they flew over, 2 catbirds mewed and one
thrasher chuffed from the nearby thickets, and yellowthroats and swamp sparrows
added their songs to those of green frogs and fowler's toads. AFter dark at my
pond at Peedee Creek I listened to fowler's toads, pickerel frogs, cricket
frogs, and a green frog and bullfrog, as well as two otters twittering and
splashing invisibly in the darkness. I heard no owls today.
After I got home to Oakton I suddenly realized I should have stopped by Winter
Harbor Rd to listen for the nightjars to see if they were back yet. Oh well,
next time. It was a great day!
Here is the total for the day. Number in () is the number of ebird lists (out
of 9) on which I noted the bird, as an indication of how widespread the species
was. (No () means one site out of 9.)
All the best
Fred
Canada Goose (Branta canadensis)
81 (7)
Mute Swan (Cygnus olor) 1
Wood Duck (Aix sponsa) 14 (2)
Gadwall (Anas strepera) 53 (2)
Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) 6 (3)
Blue-winged Teal (Anas discors)
47 (2)
Northern Shoveler (Anas clypeata)
3
Green-winged Teal (Anas crecca) 23 (2)
Ring-necked Duck (Aythya collaris)
8 (2)
Lesser Scaup (Aythya affinis) 2
Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola) 1
Ruddy Duck (Oxyura jamaicensis) 1
Northern Bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) 3 (2)
Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo)
3
Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps) 11 (4)
Double-crested Cormorant (Phalacrocorax
auritus) 120 (7)
Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)
9 (5)
Glossy Ibis (Plegadis falcinellus)
4
Black Vulture (Coragyps atratus) 33 (3)
Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura)
123 (8)
Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) 29 (6)
Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus)
36 (8)
Northern Harrier (Circus cyaneus)
3 (3)
Cooper's Hawk (Accipiter cooperii)
1
Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus) 1
Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) 3 (3)
American Kestrel (Falco sparverius)
2 (2)
Common Gallinule (Gallinula galeata)
1
American Coot (Fulica americana) 18 (2)
Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus)
11 (4)
Greater Yellowlegs (Tringa
melanoleuca) 7 (3)
Lesser Yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes)
15 (2)
Pectoral Sandpiper (Calidris
melanotos) 1
Dunlin (Calidris alpina) 3 (2)
Wilson's Snipe (Gallinago delicata)
15
Laughing Gull (Leucophaeus atricilla) 22 (4)
Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis)
295 (8)
Herring Gull (Larus argentatus)
3
Caspian Tern (Hydroprogne caspia) 1
Forster's Tern (Sterna forsteri) 17 (2)
Rock Pigeon (Columba livia) 2
Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura) 34 (7)
Belted Kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon)
3 (3)
Red-headed Woodpecker (1)
Red-bellied Woodpecker (Melanerpes
carolinus) 16 (8)
Downy Woodpecker (Picoides pubescens)
2 (2)
Hairy Woodpecker (Picoides villosus)
1
Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus)
4 (4)
Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus
pileatus) 3
Eastern Phoebe (Sayornis phoebe) 3 (3)
Great Crested Flycatcher (Myiarchus
crinitus) 2
Eastern Kingbird (Tyrannus tyrannus) 1
White-eyed Vireo (Vireo griseus) 4 (2)
Yellow-throated Vireo (Vireo
flavifrons) 2
Red-eyed Vireo (Vireo olivaceus) 3 (2
Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata)
44 (6)
American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos)
21 (8)
Fish Crow (Corvus ossifragus) 1
Horned Lark (Eremophila alpestris) 3
Northern Rough-winged Swallow (Stelgidopteryx serripennis) 6 (2)
Purple Martin (Progne subis) 49 (5)
Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor)
14 (4)
Barn Swallow (Hirundo rustica)
23 (5)
Carolina Chickadee (Poecile
carolinensis) 1
Tufted Titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor) 20 (7)
Carolina Wren (Thryothorus
ludovicianus) 23 (8)
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (Polioptila
caerulea) 9 (3)
Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis)
16 (7)
Hermit Thrush (Catharus guttatus)
1
American Robin (Turdus migratorius) 24 (4)
Gray Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis)
2
Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos) 16 (7)
Brown Thrasher (Toxostoma rufum)
12 (8)
European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris)
48 (6)
Ovenbird (Seiurus aurocapilla)
11 (3)
Louisiana Waterthrush (Parkesia
motacilla) 1
Prothonotary Warbler (Protonotaria citrea) 1
Common Yellowthroat (Geothlypis trichas) 29 (7)
Northern Parula (Setophaga americana)
7 (2)
Pine Warbler (Setophaga pinus)
12 (4)
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Setophaga
coronata) 16 (3)
Yellow-throated Warbler (Setophaga
dominica) 17 (6)
Prairie Warbler (Setophaga discolor)
1
Eastern Towhee (Pipilo
erythrophthalmus) 4 (2)
Chipping Sparrow (Spizella passerina)
22 (5)
Field Sparrow (Spizella pusilla)
15 (7)
Savannah Sparrow (Passerculus
sandwichensis) 37 (4)
Grasshopper Sparrow (Ammodramus
savannarum) 9 (3)
Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia)
7 (4)
Swamp Sparrow (Melospiza georgiana)
9 (2)
White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia
albicollis) 38 (8)
White-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys)
2
Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) 33 (8
Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius
phoeniceus) 886 (8)
Eastern Meadowlark (Sturnella magna)
15 (4)
Common Grackle (Quiscalus quiscula)
48 (7)
Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater)
6 (3
House Finch (Carpodacus mexicanus)
4 (2)
American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis)
13 (6)
House Sparrow (Passer domesticus)
1
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
http://tea.armadaproject.org/tea_atwoodfrontpage.html
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