VA Birders,
After reading about all the Bank Swallows seen on the Northern Neck, Pat
Blyer and I decided to go to Lucketts, where I had found them in the past
(usually August), to see if we could find any Bank Swallows there this morning
(Tuesday, July 20). We were not disappointed. We looked first on Rt. 661
(east
of Rt. 15), but we did not find any swallows on the wires there, so we turned
right on Hibler Road (Rt. 656, also known as the "pig farm road"). We drove
some distance on this road before spotting our first swallows on wires. None
of them were Bank swallows, so we went further down the road. Then we spotted
more swallows on the wires, and almost immediately noticed that 2 brown
swallows appeared to be a little smaller than the others. They were indeed
Bank
Swallows with a brown breast band across their otherwise whitish throat and
belly. We got them in the scope and had good views of the 2 Bank Swallows,
with a
Northern Rough-wing and a Barn Swallow inbetween them for comparison! They
were a Life Bird for Pat and a year bird for me.
In addition, we saw a couple of sparrows on another wire a little farther
back in the farmyard, and when we put the scope on them, we realized that
they were Grasshopper Sparrows. One of them appeared to be a juvenile, with
some
streaking on its throat, and the other appeared to be an adult.
Val Kitchens
Arlington, VA
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