Greetings...
Sue Heath and I made an attempt at a Fauquier County Big Day on Sunday.
Since it has only been done a couple times, its a bit hard to measure the
success of one of these things. I had sort of hoped that we would get about
120 species, beating my previous total of 113 or so. Unfortunately we didn't
do much scouting, and had about the least firm of a plan that you could on
one of these days, making most of it up as we went along. Still, we got 120
species, plus one stringy pheasant; all but three were shared by both of us.
The birds we were pleased to get were: Upland Sandpiper, in Remington;
Lincoln's Sparrows, two of them at the Waterfowl Management Area at Phelps,
one offering killer looks; Swamp Sparrow, same location as the Lincoln's;
Lesser Scaup at Airlie; Ring-necked Duck in two locations (including Dunlop,
the bird that has been at Harrison Road for a while); Least Bittern at
Airlie; Barn Owl (nice that one is actually where you last saw it when doing
one of these days); Tennessee Warbler and Northern Waterthrush at Clifton;
Wilson's Warbler at Thompson WMA; two Blue-winged Warblers at Thompson;
several Summer Tanagers at Phelps; Swainson's Thrush at Phelps; and Veery at
Thompson.
The birds that we missed that we shouldn't have were Common Nighthawk (I
still don't have one for the year), Great Horned Owl, Blue Grosbeak, and
Black-throated Blue Warbler. The owl was missed mostly due to lack of
effort. We started at four-thirty AM, and wrapped up by eight-thirty PM,
giving us only one hour in darkness. The one reliable Great Horned that we
tried at never called. Lesser misses were the yellowlegs, Willow Flycatcher
(very little effort), and White-throated Sparrow. We missed Prothonotary
Warbler, which is one of the sixteen species or warbler that I know to breed
in Fauquier. Whether it breeds annually I don't know. The one territory
that I did know of did not have birds today. For a much more detailed
account of the day, keep reading. Otherwise, ta-ta.
The day began at Airlie for a reliable screech-owl, which did call
unprovoked. We did some other night stuff that didn't pan out. Attempts at
Least Bittern and Great Horned Owl failed. Having not been up and birding
before six AM lately, I was unpleasantly surprised that it was light by
five-thirty AM. Light enough that the Whip-poor-wills at Phelps needed some
coaxing to sing. It was a windy morning which might have contributed to
their silence. We were at Summer Tanager Road at Phelps for dawn chorus,
which was pretty disappointing. The hardest part of doing a big day in
Fauquier is finding places that concentrate migrants. In short, there aren't
any. I've tried the ridge, and it isn't usually that productive. We figured
that Phelps, with its proximity to the Rappahannock, might be good. In
truth, we got everything we expected in there, but we only walked away with a
few migrants that we weren't likely to get elsewhere. Phelps is good for
some breeders, most notably the Summer Tanager, but also Yellow-throated
Vireo, Hooded Warbler, Black-and-white Warbler, Parula, and woodpeckers. As
for other things, it isn't quite as good. For the day we tallied
twenty-three warbler species, but just fourteen were at Phelps. We had one
of the two Swainson's thrushes of the day at Phelps.
After Phelps, we checked the field that has been hosting the Upland
Sandpipers in Remington, and managed one bird at about nine AM. Several
Horned Larks were singing as well. We dipped on our first of many Blue
Grosbeak stops, and then departed to go cross county to Thompson, starting at
the upper parking lots. We were hoping for the handful of breeders that are
up there and not easy elsewhere in the county: Broad-winged Hawk, Ruffed
Grouse, Cerulean Warbler, Kentucky Warbler, Worm-eating Warbler, Raven, and
Blue-headed Vireo. We were also hoping for Black-billed Cuckoo, migrant
flycatchers, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, and any extra warblers. We got all the
breeders except the grouse and the Blue-headed Vireo, and the only migrant we
added was the grosbeak. Surprising was how little foliage there is up there,
making view of most of the tree top birds possible. We had great looks at
Cerulean Warblers, and were able to spot the calling Broad-wingeds through
the holes in the canopy.
Next stop was the lower portion of Thompson. A walk down the Ted Lake Trail
for Blue-winged Warbler, and a stop at the parking lot for Thompson Lake for
a quick search to see what might be there. Two Blue-wingeds were drawn out
by pishing at the Ted Lake area, and then began singing. We also added a
veery. Non-breeding/wintering thrushes are a bit of a mystery to me in
Fauquier. At a small banding operation here we have netted Bicknell's,
Gray-cheeked, and Swainson's, yet finding those three plus Veery aren't easy
in the places I bird. At the parking area of Thompson Lake, we lucked into a
Wilson's Warbler.
Further down Leeds Manor Road we stopped for Kingfisher and Rough-winged
swallows at the intersection of Route 711. Both nest in the banks along the
creek. We made a couple stops for Bobolink in the area, the species having
been reported here recently, but missed.
Sky Meadows produced the expected Red-headed Woodpeckers and the day's first
house finch. We swung at and missed Loggerhead Shrike, not a big day
friendly species at that location. We also hoped for Savannah Sparrow here
(and at a few other places) and came up shy. We took Carr Road (Route 710)
across the northern part of the county, looking and listening as we went,
tying up a few loose ends. The best stop was a farm pond near Frogtown that
had Solitary Sandpiper, Spotted Sandpipers, and a few Least Sandpipers. Most
of the ponds in Fauquier have high water, limiting the already small amount
of shorebird habitat. We did come across many more Spotteds and a couple
Solitaries as the day progressed.
The pond on Belvoir Road gave us Double-crested Cormorant and Osprey, the
latter never reliable on this part of the piedmont. The pond on Harrison
Road had the presumably injured drake Ring-necked Duck that we call Dunlop.
No, we don't really call it Dunlop, but the Dyke Marsh people might get the
joke. Three other Ring-necked Ducks are at Airlie, but haven't been there
long. Dunlop has been around for a while lending to the speculation of
injury. The fields next to Harrison Road had a few Bobolinks. It was
raining a bit at this point (around three o'clock), and that might have kept
them down. Next stop was a Barn Owl, and then off to drive some hedgerows
and other sparrow spots looking for Blue Grosbeaks and White-throated
Sparrows, never getting either. At Clifton Farm we picked up Northern
Waterthrush and Tennessee Warbler, but unexpected that late in the day.
Airlie was our last stop, working some large fields and searching the hundred
acre reservoir. We were hoping that we would stay ahead of the weather which
looked gloomy and seemed to promise storms. We had about a fifteen minute
spell of rain, and nothing more. Similar to northern Virginia Big Days that
I have done in the past with Kurt Gaskill, I like ending the day at a place
that has wetlands and a pond. It has always treated us well in the past at
Huntley Meadows, and it did so yesterday. Added at the reservoir were
Bobwhite, Bald Eagle, a Lesser Scaup hen that has been with three Ring-necked
Ducks for a week or so, Bank Swallow, and Least Bittern. We hung on until
about eight-thirty hoping that a nighthawk would fly by, or the Great Horned
Owl would call (which it had done on Friday and Saturday evening at the same
time), but it wasn't to be.
The List:
From the Hard to Miss category, we got 99 out of 100.
DC Cormorant, Belvoir Pond and Airlie.
Great Blue Heron, many places.
Green Heron, a few spots.
Black Vulture
Turkey Vulture
Canada Goose
Mute Swan, a wild pair at Airlie.
Wood Duck, along O'Bannon Road and at Airlie.
Mallard
Bald Eagle
Red-tailed Hawk
American Kestrel, not a particularly easy bird here, we only got two.
Bobwhite, Airlie.
Killdeer
Solitary Sandpiper
Spotted Sandpiper
Rock Dove
Mourning Dove
Yellow-billed Cuckoo
Eastern Screech-owl
Barred Owl, Phelps after sunrise.
Whip-poor-will, Phelps.
Chimney Swift
Ruby-throated Hummingbird
Belted Kingfisher, several locations.
Red-headed Woodpecker, Sky Meadows.
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Flicker
Pileated Woodpecker
Eastern-wood Pewee
Acadian Flycatcher
Eastern Phoebe
Great Crested Flycatcher
Eastern Kingbird
White-eyed Vireo
Yellow-throated Vireo, Phelps and Thompson lower.
Warbling Vireo, many places.
Red-eyed Vireo
Blue Jay
American Crow
Fish Crow
Common Raven, Phelps.
Horned Lark, Remington.
Purple Martin
Tree Swallow
Rough-winged Swallow
Bank Swallow, Airlie, seen by me only.. This bird probably belongs in
another category.
Carolina Chickadee
Titmouse
White-breasted Nuthatch
Carolina Wren
House Wren
Gnatcatcher
Bluebird
Wood Thrush
Robin
Catbird
Mockingbird
Thrasher
Cedar Waxwing
Starling
Blue-winged Warbler, Thompson lower.
Northern Parula, Phelps.
Yellow Warbler
Magnolia Warbler, Phelps.
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Black-throated Green, seen by Sue only at Phelps.
Pine Warbler, Phelps.
Prairie Warbler, lots at Phelps.
Blackpoll, many places.
Cerulean Warbler, Thompson, maybe a dozen, but we weren't counting.
Black-and-white Warbler, Phelps and Thompson.
Redstart, Phelps and Thompson.
Worm-eating Warbler, Thompson, just one.
Ovenbird
Louisiana Waterthrush, Phelps.
Kentucky Warbler, Thompson.
Common Yellowthroat
Hooded Warbler
Chat
Scarlet Tanager
Towhee
Chipping Sparrow
Field Sparrow
Grasshopper Sparrow
Song Sparrow
Cardinal
Indigo Bunting
Red-winged Blackbird
Meadowlark
Common Grackle
Cowbird
Orchard Oriole
Baltimore Oriole
House Finch
Goldfinch
House Sparrow
From the More Difficult to Find category, we got twelve of twenty-eight.
Osprey, Belvoir Pond.
Red-shouldered Hawk, a couple.
Broad-winged Hawk, Thompson, calling and circling.
Least Sandpiper, near Frogtown.
Barn Owl, The Plains.
Hairy Woodpecker, Thompson and Phelps.
Veery, Thompson lower, seen by me only.
Swainson's Thrush, Phelps and somewhere else that I can't seem to remember.
Chestnut-sided Warbler, O'Bannon Road.
Summer Tanager, Phelps, maybe three of them.
Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Thompson.
Bobolink, Harrison Road.
From the "Gotta Be Lucky" category, we got nine of thirty-four.
Least Bittern, Airlie.
Lesser Scaup, Airlie.
Ring-necked Duck, Harrison Road and Airlie.
Upland Sandpiper, Remington.
Tennessee Warbler, Clifton Farm.
Northern Waterthrush, Clifton Farm.
Wilson's Warbler, Thompson Lower.
Swamp Sparrow, Phelps in the duck area.
Lincoln's Sparrow, Phelps in the duck area.
120 species, 117 shared, plus one pheasant.
Cheers...
Todd
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Todd Day
Jeffersonton, VA
Culpeper County
Blkvulture@xxxxxxx
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