VA BIRDers,
Well, if you havn't figured it out yet, I am a bit back-loggeed. I'll post
these short notes which may be of some value.
I visited Thompson WMA early on 8/11. Highlight bird was Blue-headed Vireo,
singing in the forest several hundred yards down the trail from parking lot
#6. Most warbler activity was near "Catbird Heaven" or parking lot 10 or 11
or whatever it is - the next to the last one along the rough gravel road.
This area has alot of shrubs and vines and one small grassy field which
someone uses for hay, curiously. Anyway, here are some numbers on some birds
of interest.
Yellow-billed Cuckoo 4
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 1
E. Wood Pewee 9
Acadian Flycatcher 3 (one was still singing)
Blue-headed Vireo 1
Red-eyed Vireo 8
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 5
Wood Thrush 2 (one was still singing, weakly)
Gray Catbird 9
Cedar Waxwing 9
Am. Redstart 3, curiously all were after second year males, some singing
Worm-eating Warbler 4, no songs
Kentucky Warbler 1, one very weak song phrase
Hooded Warbler 1, foraging over the hood of my car
Scarlet Tanager 2
E. Towhee 15
Indigo Bunting 8
I left at about 1030 and traveled to Sky Meadows, there I found the requisite
Red-headed Woodpeckers and a single melancholy Common Raven. I then traveled
the backroads to Reistertown Rd which offered up a Savannah Sparrow.
I then drove to Hume to see the incredible Swallow-tailed Kite. Really,
quite a remarkable bird! The dove songs near the barn were odd and I now
suspect E. Collard Dove, although I should go back and check.
I ran out of time that day as I was required to be home (although I stole a
few moments for the Wilson's Phalaropes). Feeling I missed something, I
traveled back out west today (8/12) and visited the turf farms near
Remington, noting 5 Upland Sandpipers.
Sure beats hitting a little ball around someone's lawn!
Kurt Gaskill
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