on 4/10/04 11:47 AM, PlanetWaves99@xxxxxxx at PlanetWaves99@xxxxxxx wrote:
I am not seeing any list with the many Black Vultures that I am seeing
flying around our northern VA area from Leesburg to Ft. Belvoir.
Barbara Chambers
Fairfax
Ben Jesup and I had a short but GREAT morning exploring and scouting Ft.
Belvoir for our annual bit of insanity we like to call the Fairfax County Big
Day.
We did the area along the Potomac near the ruins and then Accotink Bay near
the archery range. We picked a lot of "first of the year" birds for us
including Forster's Terns, Chimney Swift, and N. Rough Winged Swallow. We
also had a possible/probable female Common Goldeneye in flight (more on that
later).
Here's the list in roughly taxonomic order:
(birds marked with # are first of the year birds for me)
Common Loon - 2 # (1 in breeding plumage, 1 in winter)
Pied Bill Grebe 2
Horned Grebe 1 beautiful bird in breeding plumage
Great Blue 10
D.C. Cormorant - 50+
Tundra Swan - 12
C. Goose 6
Green Winged Teal 2
Wood Duck 2
Malard 2
Common Goldeneye (f) # - probable *(see below)
Red Breasted Merg - 1 f
Common Merg 2 f
TV
Osprey 8
R.S. Hawk 1
R.T. Hawk 1
Snipe 2
Killdeer 1
Caspian Tern 10 #
Forster's Tern - 8 # (most were still in winter plumage, but at least 1 was
in breeding plumage)
All the woodpeckers except Red Headed
W.B. Nuthatch 3
Brown Creeper
Bluebird 2
B.G. Gnatcatcher 2 #
Hermit Thrush 2-3
R.C. Kinglet 8
G.C. Kinglet 2
Solitary Vireo 1 # (Blue Headed if you prefer innacurate, boring names!)
Pine Warbler
L.A. Waterthrush 2 #
Yellow Rumped Warbler
Brown Thrasher 2 #
Song/White Throat/Fox/Chipping Sparrows
Junco 30
Towhee 2
Chimney Swift 1 #
Tree Swallow 15
N. Rough Winged 1 #
* Common Goldeneye notes: We first saw this bird in flight and we never saw
it land. I was able to get the scope on it for a few seconds as it flew away
from us (we had a slight side view, but mostly from behind). The most
noticible feature were the white wing patches in the scapulars, but they
weren't confined to just the scapular like a Bufflehead. They covered more of
the wing and had a look similar to female Red Breasted/Common Mergs.
The head and bill were NOT Merganser shapped at all. The head was short and
stocky and stubby and had a steep forehead (very different from the long,
flat, thin head of any of the Mergs). The bill also seemed bigger and thicker
than the needle-like look of a Merg. bill in flight. The head was shapped
like a female Bufflehead's head, but I didn't see any contrast or any white
cheek patch (but I don't know if you can always see that in flight). Speaking
of Buffleheads, this bird didn't look quite as compressed and stocky as they
do in flight. It seemed to be more streched out from bill to tail than a
Bufflehead looks.
The body and back were a generic dark color. Not black, but sort of a drab
grey with no obvious contrast anywhere.
I didn't see the white collar around the neck that the female Goldeneye has,
but that may be due to the angle of viewing.
Summary:
General head shape - like a Bufflehead (not a merganser)
General wing pattern - like a female Common/Red Breasted Merganser (not like a
Bufflehead)
Bart Hutchinson
Alexandria, VA
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