Va Birders,
I've been off the list for quite some time and just re-joined. I wanted to
report that this past Sunday, we were at our local bird watching area and
sighted two Golden Eagles. We were at Cumberland Marsh. It's a little-known
Nature Conservancy preserve here in New Kent County.
I had seen these birds in the area earlier in the year, but they were very far
away. We normally only see Bald Eagles, so it was quite exciting.The preserve
is quite accessible, parking is right near an observation platform overlooking
the Pamunkey river. It's a beautiful and secluded area with a lot of bird
species. A deer nearly ran smack into us while on one of the trails. There are
wheat fields surrounding the preserve in which we saw many species of birds,
and a few rabbits as well. Earlier in the spring there were lots of Greater
Yellowlegs in the fields and along the shore, as well as many Canada Geese.
Here is a link with directions to the preserve.
http://www.nature.org/wherewework/northamerica/states/virginia/preserves/art1232.html
We have kayaked the area in the past and heard rather than saw, hundreds of
Sora in the wild rice along the riverbanks. (I've yet to get a picture of one).
We discovered two perching limbs for the Eagles, noted by the many droppings on
the ground and feathers as well. We'll try again next weekend. I did manage to
capture a few images of the Golden Eagles, but the quality leaves a lot to be
desired. My 400mm lens didn't have enough reach. Here's a link to the images..
My apologies for the poor quality..
http://www.pbase.com/tomlyn/raptors
If you are in the Richmond area, we hope you'll take a short drive to New Kent
County and give it a try.
Lynda Blair
