VA Birders,
It's nice to pull up to a spot and have another birder come and tell you
where to look for the good birds. Thanks to Mike Iwanik for giving us a
report on the birds in the Harrison Road area of Fauquier Co. today--all of
which we happily found. Edna Aaron, Betty Kilgore, Norm Smith, and I all saw
the Eurasian Wigeon, Snow Goose, and Greater White-fronted Goose, but it took
quite a bit of work, especially for the latter goose.
The drake Eurasian Wigeon was at the pond on Harrison Road. It was at
the left side of the pond (as you are facing it), at the back edge of a brush
pile. Shortly after we saw it, it moved behind the brush, and we had to walk
back toward Rt. 245 to a slight rise in order to view it again. We also saw
several American Wigeon, a male Bufflehead, 3 Gadwall, and a male Ring-necked
Duck (or possibly a pair) on the pond as well as the large flock of Canada
Geese with the hybrid goose between 12:00 noon and about 1:00 pm.
Then we drove to the west end of Harrison Road, turned left, and went to
the pond down the road on the right, where Mike had seen the other geese. I
think this is Belvoir road, but it has quite a bit of traffic and no
shoulders on which to park, so we continued on around the curve and parked in
a small gravel area near a large silo at the west end of the pond. We had to
walk back along the edge of the road to a spot where we could view the large
flock of Canada Geese. We easily picked out the immature Snow Goose (there
was also an all white domestic goose with no black on its wings). After much
searching, we found the Greater White-fronted Goose as well, but it was all
or mostly hidden in a ditch just in front of the fence or blocked by Canadas
for much of the time. Thanks to Norm's looking for a better angle, we
finally found one where we all had good looks at this goose. It and the
Eurasian Wigeon were Life Birds for Edna and Betty. Both were probably VA
birds for Norm and they were definitely great year birds for me!
Happy New Year and Many Good Birds in 2003,
Val Kitchens
Arlington, VA
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