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-----Original Message-----
From: Kurt Gaskill [mailto:KurtCapt87@xxxxxxxxxxx] ;
Sent: Sunday, December 04, 2005 7:20 PM
To: (va-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx)
Subject: Mason Neck, Frfx Co, 12/4/05 - Waterfowl Count
VA BIRDers,
I was assigned portions of the Mason Neck area for the Northern Virginia
Waterfowl Count today. It was a great day for birding - I hope others had
an equally fine day. I surveyed from the NE side of the Great Marsh to
Hallowing Point and then half way down Gunston Cove. Then, I went to Mason
Neck SP and counted Belmont Bay including the Bayview Trail marsh and the
Kanes Creek inlet. I found nothing too out of the ordinary just a fine
array of waterfowl (incl 18 duck species and over 10,000 ducks) plus some
late Forsters Terns. The following are the numbers I tallied the first
is the Great Marsh/Hallowing Pt area and the second is the Belmont Bay area.
Canada Goose 294
132
Tundra Swan 176
Wood Duck 1
Gadwall 432
American Wigeon 124
American Black Duck 144
65
Mallard 63
74
Northern Shoveler 2
Northern Pintail 11
Green-winged Teal 5
8
Canvasback 34
1
Redhead 1
Ring-necked Duck
.2
Greater Scaup 3
Lesser Scaup 8014
759
Bufflehead 60
5
Hooded Merganser
.29
Common Merganser 2
Ruddy Duck 11
398
Common Loon 2
Pied-billed Grebe 4
Horned Grebe
.2
DC Cormorant 6
Bald Eagle 3
1
American Coot 120
3
Greater Yellowlegs 2
Forsters Tern 2
Other notables were Eastern Phoebe (MNSP), Brown Creeper (5), Winter Wren
(4), both kinglets, Hermit Thrush (14), Eastern Towhee (4) and a distant
blackbird flock at the end of Kanes Creek that had at least a couple of
Rusty Blackbirds.
The Mason Neck peninsula is a key sector in the Ft Belvoir CBC, scheduled
for Saturday Dec 31. If you are interested in helping in this area or would
like more information, contact Mary Alice Koeneke or Glenn Koppel at
gjkoppel at cox.net
I finished up the day at the marina overlooking the mouth of the Occoquan
River. I had just finished counting the ducks when Jim Waggener & crew
showed up sorry! Didnt mean to poach Jim, just making sure the area was
not missed this year. The numbers were:
Canada Goose 61
Mallard 101
Northern Shoveler 20
Lesser Scaup 52
Bufflehead 12
Common Goldeneye 2
Hooded Merganser 6
Common Merganser 1
Pied-billed Grebe 6
DC Cormorant 2
Bald Eagle 2
American Coot 150
And, yes, this is another great Ft Belvoir CBC spot Massey Creek is
covered in the Gunston Sector and contact Bart Hutchinson at planetwaves99
at aol.com for more information. Or, you too can try the ancient and
honorable art of poaching by setting up a scope at the marina in the
Occoquan Sector contact Marc Ribaudo at moribaudo at verizon.net for
more details.
Kurt Gaskill
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