In the Leedstown area of Westmoreland County in
the Northern Neck the most exciting birds were
sparrows.
My first N. Neck Lincoln's Sparrow was on Liberty
Farm Rd.
My first N. Neck Vesper Sparrow was on Cottage
Farm Rd.
On Leedstown Rd, in a friend's farm near the
campground, there were about 25 white-crowned
sparrows. At dusk the air was filled with their
beautiful songs and distinctive call notes.
Other sparrows seen, but not in as high numbers
as expected, were swamp(~40), song (~50),
white-throated(~15), chipping(9), field(6), and
savannah(4).
2 purple finches were also in Leedstown.
Ducks have not arrived in the same kinds of
numbers that have been reported in Northern
Virginia. I had only 3 wood ducks(farm in
Leedstown), 4 hooded mergansers (Singerly pond in
Richmond County), and 1 Ruddy Duck (in a farm
pond on Cottage Farm Rd.) I saw no ducks on the
Rappahannock from three vantage points and no
ducks on the Potomac from Horner's Beach Rd
(where I saw 4 common loons and 8 forster's
terns). I didn't make it to Westmoreland State
Park or George Washington's Birthplace National
Monument. Goose numbers have started to
increase; I saw about 400 today.
In Leedstown I heard great horned owls calling in
two different locations ( 2.5 miles apart) in the
late afternoon. Also saw 3 pairs of bald eagles,
3 immature bald eagles, 1 cooper's hawk, 3
kestrels, 2 sharp-shinned hawks, 1 harrier.
2 pine warblers, both kinglets, 2 rusty
blackbirds, my first red-breasted nuthatch and
hermit thrushes (3)of the season, a brown
creeper, 2 towhees, 2 thrashers, and about 80
yellow-rumped warblers were also in Leedstown.
Several great-blue herons and double-crested
cormorants were on the fishing weir in the
Rappahannock River near Fones Cliffs in Richmond
Co.
Two snipe, a Lesser Yellowlegs and a Greater
Yellowlegs were at Drake's Marsh in Leedstown.
All the best
Fred
=====
Frederick D. Atwood fredatwood@xxxxxxxxx
Flint Hill School, 10409 Academic Dr, Oakton, VA 22124
703-242-1675
http://www.agpix.com/fredatwood
http://www.flinthill.org
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