VA BIRDers,
I participated in the Manassas CBC this past Saturday, attemtping to census
birds in a critical area that is undergoing exceptional pressure to new
building. I started off the early morning looking for owls, meeting up with
Charles Smith at the Hacor Tract (a new acquisition by the Fairfax Co. Park
Authority) on Pleasant Valley Rd (western Fairfax Co) before dawn. We dipped
on the owls and I had to scoot to meet my party at the Dulles Airport gate at
dawn. Charles did well after I left, as you will read presently.
At Dulles I met up with Gary Evans and Company and we birded the inner
perimeter of the southern half of the airport. Gary told me that the pre-dawn
owling netted a Barn Owl at the airport - a fine sighting! Daylight notables
were separate flocks of American Pipits and Horned Larks and many Northern
Harriers, Red-tailed and Red-shouldered Hawks. We walked a few other locations
that yielded Swamp and White-crowned Sparrows and also encountered a small
flock of kinglets and Hermit Thrush. The outer edge of Dulles was not
available that day due to hunting of the resident deer population (a safey
measure!).
I headed back south joining up with Carolyn Williams as we birded an extensive
power line cut between Bull Run PO and Pleasant Valley Rd, netting a single
Eastern Meadowlark along with the more common species. I headed back to the
Hacor track to finish up an edge that Charles Smith left me. I chatted with
Charles on the phone as I walked into the field and he told me that just a few
minutes after I left near dawn, a Short-eared Owl cruised the meadow. After it
left, the Northern Saw-whet started tooting from the extensive Red Cedar edge
near the seasonal stream (just south of the Cox Farm property). I was amazed!
(and a bit chagrined as you may imagine.)
I counted the field edge as the sun set, netting many of the more common
sparrows and such. The setting sun brought forth a calling E. Towhee and, as I
walked across the field, a Savannah flew from my feet to a new evening site and
a No. Harrier appeared for a several minutes. I waited for it to get dark,
hoping some of the owls will come out. At 530 pm a Short-eared Owl flew out of
the Red Cedar grove and did a few displays, landing on a vole or mouse at one
point. I heard a distant Great Horned and my whistled tooted eventually
brought forth a strangled mewing syllable from the Saw-whet. Before I left, an
American Woodcock flew over my head.
If you plan to visit the Hacor Tract (about 3/8 mile south of Braddock off of
Pleasant Valley Rd, on the west side), please consider that Pleasant Valley Rd
is very busy & noisy - esp. at the end of the day. Early morning may be better
for some. Parking is VERY limited - there is space for perhaps 3 cars. The
field is quite mushy at this point, so if you plan to hike in, wear good boots.
Kurt Gaskill
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