Hola,
It's been a couple weeks since I've had a chance to bird in Fauquier County,
so today I forced myself to check a few places and see what is about.
I started in Remington, where I found nothing of note. In fact, I found
mostly unappealing habitat on a lot of the fields. Many of the fields that
last
year at this time were plowed are covered in sod. The Remington Turf Farm
(which is just before the Woodward Turf Farm on 651) looks appealing for
Buff-breasted Sandpipers. The Woodward Turf Farm is likely still hosting
Upland
Sandpipers (Bob Abrams and Joan Boudreau had a few there 19 Aug), but I didn't
find any today, which isn't atypical. Horned Larks are around in good
numbers (nearly 100 today), and in Culpeper County, I came across a field of
about
120 Killdeer. There is some habitat there that might host a Buff-breasted,
and if we get any rain and ponding in the fields, it could host a bunch of
shorebirds.
After Remington I met up with Matt Hafner and checked along Harrison Road
and Belvoir Road. About the only thing of note here were a couple of
Bobolinks
calling; whether they're migrants or leftover from this summer's breeding
birds is anyone's guess. A Raven was circling around here as well. Later we
found a Solitary Sandpiper on a pond along Route 55 east of Marshall.
Lastly we stopped at Buckland on the Prince William and Fauquier County line
along US 29. It took about fifteen minutes, but we finally found an adult
Mississippi Kite. It was the first of three kites we saw there, but the only
one we aged (unless all three are molting adults). We saw a couple of
Broad-winged Hawks here as well. Somewhere throughout the day I saw two
Eastern
Kingbirds, one at the Buckland spot, and one elsewhere. Might be the last one
I see this year unless I get to the Eastern Shore.
Cheers,
Todd
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Todd Michael Day
Jeffersonton, VA, USA
blkvulture@xxxxxxx
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