Hello, birders.
I haven't posted anything in a while from Sky Meadows so I figure I'd mention a
few sightings, esp. since most people probably stayed home today in NoVa. It
was quite cold there today, temps in the teens. The snow was falling virtually
the entire time, except for a short break in mid-morning. For a few minutes,
sleet was mixed in. After that, the snowfall changed from light to moderate
and visability become poor for a while. Most of the snowfall came in an hour
and a half starting around noon, when a couple of inches fell. It was breezy
today, out of the SSE. Moving water was open, still water was frozen. I
thought it would be fun to bird in the snow today, and it was, except there
weren't as many individuals as there could have been, especially after the
snowfall got heavier. At that point, I was checking out the Visitor Center
area and I hardly saw or heard any birds. Mammals were almost absent with only
1 deer. Today I birded from the entrance road pond to the
contact
station area, through the open woods and fields to the farm and fishing ponds
near Rte. 17.
I've really only seen common stuff lately at the park, with a fairly high count
of 7 Brown Creepers a couple of weeks ago being somewhat interesting, and a
couple of Yellow-rumped Warblers around this winter. A few female Bufflehead
were swimming and diving on the fishing pond last weekend.
Today, I saw a pair of Great Horned Owls at the park. I don't believe that
I've ever seen this species there, with heard birds maybe a couple of times
before. I got pretty good looks at them as the snowfall began to get heavier.
The birds were both perched and flying.
Raptors have been conspicuous this month with No. Harrier, B. Eagle, R.t. Hawk,
both vultures and Am. Kestrel being present. I've been seeing most of these
species fairly regularly here, with all but the vultures being seen today. I
got a great view of a male Harrier soaring past me late this morning. He went
out of my line of sight, dropping down over one of the frozen farm ponds near
the barn. I saw him again, standing at the edge of said pond, looking around.
I could see the weak, brownish streaks on his underparts as he flew by me and
again as he rested. I watched him as he was on the ground and noted his
slender, long build, gray head and breast that was lighter than the wings. He
appeared to be eating something, I think it was snow. He never flew while I
was there, even after I continued around the bend and up the trail past him.
Only 5 Red-headed Woodpeckers were seen today. I missed Flicker and Sapsucker
but got the others. A couple of ravens and then a couple of crows were feeding
on one of the deer carcasses that the Ranger Bruce put in the field behind the
farm ponds. I heard another raven earlier. The snow seemed to make the
songbirds quieter and not very conspicuous today. A large flock of Can.
Geese, about 250, flew over the fields, honking a lot.
I haven't seen any Am. Tree Sparrows here this winter but I'm glad that others
have reported them. I was hoping for some today. I did get Junco, incl. one
large flock of about 75, also some White-throated, Field and Song.
The birds have increased at my feeder here in Fairfax Co. yesterday and today.
Looks like we only got 2 1/2 inches of snow here, less than was forecast. It's
a good night to stay in, as the roads stink.
Scott Baron
Fairfax, Va.
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