I made a tour of James River Park locations and ended up down at Dutch Gap today. It was a little brisk, with a pretty steady breeze, but sunny and beautiful. I found most of the expected birds, and one or two surprises.
I started the morning with five Hooded Mergansers in the pond behind the (original) Stony Point Office Park. There were Buffleheads, Ring-necked Ducks, and a couple of Pied-billed Grebes at Huguenot Flatwater. There was one Great Blue Heron in Rattlesnake Creek. Pony Pasture was pretty quiet. I was surprised to hear and then finally see a Brown-headed Nuthatch at the entrance to the Wetlands area on Landria Drive. I had thought for a long time that the Wetlands had some habitat that Brown-headed Nuthatches would like, but this is the first time I have seen one there. I also found a Barred Owl down near the river. The second surprise was a pair of Common Ravens down in the railroad yard behind the Floodwall Walk. There was a good variety of ducks in the marsh at Dutch Gap - Shovelers, Gadwall, Ring-necked Ducks, and American Wigeon were there in good numbers. There were three Northern Pintails and one Black Duck, along with a good number of Mallards and Canada Geese. There was one adult Bald Eagle perched on one of the old heron nests.
All told, I found 51 species today. Complete lists for each location are given below.
Lewis Barnett Location: James River Pk - Huguenot Flatwater Observation date: 1/2/10 Number of species: 28 Canada Goose 41 Mallard 6 Ring-necked Duck 23 Bufflehead 52 Pied-billed Grebe 2 Double-crested Cormorant 1 Great Blue Heron 1 Ring-billed Gull 1 Belted Kingfisher 1 Red-bellied Woodpecker 2 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 1 Downy Woodpecker 1 Northern Flicker 1 Blue Jay 1 American Crow 5 Carolina Chickadee 4 Tufted Titmouse 1 White-breasted Nuthatch 1 Carolina Wren 5 Golden-crowned Kinglet 1 Eastern Bluebird 11 American Robin 2 European Starling 28 Yellow-rumped Warbler 6 Eastern Towhee 1 Northern Cardinal 3 Common Grackle 1 American Goldfinch 4 This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org/VA) Location: James River Park - Pony Pasture Section Observation date: 1/2/10 Number of species: 7 Mallard 3 Bufflehead 21 Ring-billed Gull 1 American Crow 2 Carolina Chickadee 1 Carolina Wren 1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet 1 This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org/VA) Location: James River Park--The Wetlands Observation date: 1/2/10 Number of species: 21 Bufflehead 2 Barred Owl 1 Red-bellied Woodpecker 3 Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 1 Downy Woodpecker 3 Hairy Woodpecker 1 Northern Flicker 3 Carolina Chickadee 13 Tufted Titmouse 3 White-breasted Nuthatch 1 Brown-headed Nuthatch 1 Brown Creeper 1 Carolina Wren 3 Golden-crowned Kinglet 1 Ruby-crowned Kinglet 3 Eastern Bluebird 1 Field Sparrow 2 Song Sparrow 3 White-throated Sparrow 2 Northern Cardinal 3 House Finch 4 This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org/VA) Location: Henricus - Dutch Gap Conservation Area Observation date: 1/2/10 Number of species: 15 Canada Goose 68 Gadwall 40 American Wigeon 50 American Black Duck 1 Mallard 135 Northern Shoveler 20 Northern Pintail 3 Ring-necked Duck 65 Black Vulture 32 Turkey Vulture 2 Bald Eagle 1 Rock Pigeon 20 Carolina Chickadee 1 Carolina Wren 1 Northern Mockingbird 1 This report was generated automatically by eBird v2(http://ebird.org/VA) You are subscribed to VA-Richmond-General. To unsubscribe, send email to va-richmond-general-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field. To adjust other settings (vacation, digest, etc.) please visit, //www.freelists.org/list/va-richmond-general.
