Shirley Devan and I visited Hog Island WMA in Surry County this morning.
There is a lot of water in the impoundments and I suspect the water levels were
higher than Adam D'Onofrio reported July 20, as that area received a lot of
rain this week. Shorebird numbers were lower and species were less diverse
than Adam reported, maybe because there was less exposed area of mudflats, or
maybe due to Adam's better birding skills! Still, we got 45 species, including
Semipalmated Sandpipers, a Short-billed Dowitcher, Lesser Yellowlegs, and terns
including Least, Forster's, Caspian and Royal. The highlight was a Great
Horned Owl that we saw flying low over open water with a Red-winged Blackbird
in hot pursuit, it managed to find refuge in a pine tree and was not disturbed
further.
Our list is at http://ebird.org/ebird/va/view/checklist?subID=S14786859
Wendy Ealding
Powhatan County
