My friend and birding consiglieri, Jeff Clark, drove out with me to Lake
Brittle for the possible Ahinga and to see what we could see. The one bird
on the lake matching what I had seen was a DC Cormorant, plain as day. We
did not see any signs of an Ahinga. I've traded some mails with the
supportive but constructively skeptical Rob Hilton about the soaring bird I
saw, and there is nothing in particular to rule out DC Cormorant or support
Ahinga, or vice versa. Given the wisdom of my old pal Billy Ockham, the
simplest identification is the best one, and my soaring bird must remain an
Ahinga that I'm not willing to bet a paycheck on.
I include Jeff's report of a nonetheless wonderful day around Lake Brittle
and in Conway Robinson. Notable birds include Yellow-Rumped, Palm (Eastern),
and Magnolia Warblers, several Osprey (one of which we saw carry away a
catfish) and several Bald Eagles (one of which chased said catfish-bearing
Osprey). Jeff pulled a RH Woodpecker from alongside 29 in Buckland, as well
as White-eyed Vireo and Common Yellowthroat in Vint Hill. Big misses were
Kestrel and Brown Thrasher. Oh, and...you know...Ahinga...
Good birding!
Greg Beck
Fairfax, VA
Jeff's report:
Location: Fauquier County, VA, US
Observation date: 4/21/07
Number of species: 57
Canada Goose X
Mallard X
Blue-winged Teal 2
Double-crested Cormorant 1
Great Blue Heron X
Black Vulture X
Turkey Vulture X
Osprey X
Bald Eagle X
Northern Harrier 1
Red-shouldered Hawk X
Broad-winged Hawk X
Red-tailed Hawk X
Killdeer X
Rock Pigeon X
Mourning Dove X
Red-headed Woodpecker 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker X
Downy Woodpecker X
Hairy Woodpecker X
Northern Flicker X
Pileated Woodpecker X
Eastern Phoebe X
White-eyed Vireo 1
Blue Jay X
American Crow X
Common Raven X
Tree Swallow X
Northern Rough-winged Swallow X
Carolina Chickadee X
Tufted Titmouse X
White-breasted Nuthatch X
Carolina Wren X
Ruby-crowned Kinglet X
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher X
Eastern Bluebird X
Hermit Thrush 1
American Robin X
Northern Mockingbird X
European Starling X
Magnolia Warbler 1
Yellow-rumped Warbler X
Pine Warbler X
Palm Warbler X
Common Yellowthroat 1
Eastern Towhee X
Chipping Sparrow X
Field Sparrow X
Savannah Sparrow X
Song Sparrow X
Dark-eyed Junco X
Northern Cardinal X
Red-winged Blackbird X
Common Grackle X
Brown-headed Cowbird X
House Finch X
American Goldfinch X
This report was generated automatically by eBird v2 (http://www.ebird.org)
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.
