VA Birders,
Joanna Taylor and I left Arlington for the Tidewater area on Monday
morning, Jan. 22. We left a little later than planned, because of the weather.
We
reached Hampton about 3:00 pm, and stopped at Ridgeway Park to look for the
EURASIAN WIGEON which had been reported there. It was nowhere to be found when
we arrived about 3:15 pm, but it apparently flew in with 3 other ducks about
3:45 pm, and we had excellent looks at it. There were also lots of AMERICAN
WIGEON, a few HOODED MERGANSERS, a PIED-BILLED GREBE, and a GREAT EGRET there,
and a BROWN PELICAN flew over the park. (See directions to park below.)
From Hampton, we headed for the Best Western Inn on Rt. 13, about 3 miles
south of the CBBT, where we spent the night. It's a nice motel, includes
breakfast, and was about half an hour from the 64th Street entrance of First
Landing State Park. We arrived at the park about 9:15 am on Tuesday, Jan 23.
Joanna first spotted the WOOD STORK, as reported by Todd Day (thanks,
Todd), about 10:00 am, I think. It turned out to be the strange looking white
thing we saw as we were walking back toward the sign from the parking lot. It
was hunkered down in the marsh, and only when Joanna put her scope on it as she
was walking back to get the car did she realize it had feathers. Then it
moved, and when she came back and got me, it flew up toward the parking lot.
We
relocated it and had our best views from the trail that leads back toward the
marsh from the parking lot. The trail is between the water and the road, and
because it is raised, we were able to look down on the stork from above. The
bird was opposite the first bench on the trail, which faces out toward the
water, and it was actively feeding when we left, about 11:00 am. Incidentally,
I
met 2 women on the trail (they apparently walked it for exercise, and enjoyed
the birds, but were not serious birders) who said they had first seen the
Wood Stork the previous Thursday, when it rained. We also saw most of the
birds
which others have reported, and we saw a MERLIN perched on top of a bare tree
in the marsh on our way out, and some CEDAR WAXWINGS eating red berries with
other birds in a tree in a local yard just after leaving the park.
From First Landing, we went to Fort Story, where we had to show our ID
and have our car searched (we had to get out and open all doors, the hood, and
the trunk, and the Security Personnel scanned it for heaven knows what!) before
we were given a pass and allowed to bird in the fort. We only went to the
Monument area, where we saw several NORTHERN GANNETS in the ocean, and an adult
LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL among a small flock of gulls on the sandspit below
us.
Then we decided to go out to Island #1 on the CBBT to look for more birds
and have lunch. We found RUDDY TURNSTONES (the House Sparrows of Island #1),
a pair of LESSER SCAUP, and a pair of LONG-TAILED DUCKS, and saw a small
flock of BONAPARTE'S GULLS fly by before going to lunch. Then, as we sat down
at
a table by the window, we looked out and saw 2 male HARLEQUIN DUCKS in the
water next to the rocks below us. After lunch, we found 4 PURPLE SANDPIPERS on
the rocks on the opposite side of the island before heading home.
Directions to Ridgeway Park: From I-64 in Hampton, take Mercury Blvd.
east, and continue past the intersection with LaSalle Ave. to Fox Hill Road on
your left. (On the way, you will pass a McDonalds and take an overpass.)
Continue past the intersection with Fox Hill to the next traffic light, and
make a
U-turn from the left lane there. Mercury Blvd. is a divided highway, and you
cannot see the park sign going east, but after you make the U-turn and head
back west, you will see the sign for Ridgeway Park (named after Gen. Matthew
Ridgeway) almost immediately. The park is just east of Fox Hill Road and next
to a Hardee's. Turn right into the entrance and look for the Eurasian Wigeon
in the water to your right after you park. The wigeon is usually seen there
only in the early morning and late afternoon. Altho it apparently came in
about
3:45 pm the day we were there, it may well come in a little later as the days
grow longer.
Good birding,
Val Kitchens
Arlington, VA
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