Hello, birders.
I again visited Sky Meadows today and the birding was
at least as good as it was yesterday. I birded part
of the Meadow Trail, checked out the fishing pond and
hiked from the Visitor Center to Gap Run above the
campground to see if I could find La. Waterthrush. I
didn't see or hear any waterthrushes but it may have
been too late in the day by the time I got there.
Highlight was not one but TWO LOGGERHEAD SHRIKES near
the Meadow Trail on and near the fencerow that runs
east-west through the field. This is just to the west
of the duck ponds. They perched much of the time,
sometimes one would fly to the ground, presumably to
hunt for food. On my first pass, I saw one bird. On
my second pass, I saw a second, duller plumaged one.
They seemed to loosely associate with each other. A
pair of Mockingbirds were there for comparison. The
Mockers were upset that the Shrikes were so close.
After a while, the Mockers calmed down and then left.
I hope that the Shrikes are a pair and settle in for
the summer.
Other notable species:
Wilson's Snipe, 5. 2 near fishing pond, 2 at one of
the duck ponds, 1 flyover.
Red-headed Woodpecker, 1. I didn't bird the Walnut
Grove, their stronghold at Sky Meadows. This one was
in the woods to the east of the campground.
B. Thrasher, 4. Scattered on E side of the park.
8 sparrow species - Towhee, 6. Field, 11. VESPER, 6.
One Vesper was singing. Savannah, 9. Song, 32.
Swamp, 9. White-thr., 3. Junco, 1.
Other migrants, R.c. Kinglet, Am. Robin.
Scott Baron
Fairfax, Va.
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
http://mail.yahoo.com ;
You are subscribed to VA-BIRD. To post to this mailing list, simply send email
to va-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx. To unsubscribe, send email to
va-bird-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field.
