It has been pointed out to me that my personal calendar didn’t match up with
the posted schedule for field trips, so I’ll count this as a practice run. See
everyone next Saturday for the “real” walk!
—
Lewis Barnett
blbarnett3@xxxxxxxxx
On Oct 8, 2016, at 2:56 PM, Lewis Barnett <blbarnett3@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Being a little bit of an eternal optimist, I decided to go ahead with the
monthly walk at Henricus Historical Park/Dutch Gap Conservation Area. Not
unexpectedly, I turned out to be the only birder who thought this was a good
idea, but I had a couple of reasonably fun hours of birding before the rain
and wind picked up enough to make things unpleasant.
Before start time, I checked the boat landing and picked up an Osprey, a
couple of Cormorants, and over 100 Black Vultures on the big pylon across the
river. I caught a brief glimpse of a Common Yellowthroat while waiting near
the park entrance for anyone else who might have been “optimistic” enough to
want to bird in the rain and wind today. The first observation platform was
reasonably birdy — as usual, there were many Red-winged Blackbirds in the
marsh, one American Coot nibbling along the hummocks in front of the
platform, a few Wood Ducks paddling about or flying by, on Great Blue Heron
perched in a tree, Mockingbirds, Song Sparrows, Cardinals and Catbirds
cavorting in the trees along the road, and four Flickers in the same dead
snag across the marsh. Best bird of that stop was a juvenile Northern Harrier
that blew past just above eye level.
The walk out to the point was also pretty birdy, due primarily to a flock of
Robins foraging in the grassy area. There was one Laughing Gull over the
river, one Phoebe hawking from the back of a bench, and one Palm Warbler in
the shrubs along the edge of the bluff.
The rain had been light but steady through most of the morning, and about
this time the wind picked up, draining a bit of the excitement out of braving
the elements, so I called it a day. Full checklist is below.
—
Lewis Barnett
blbarnett3@xxxxxxxxx <mailto:blbarnett3@xxxxxxxxx>
Henricus - Dutch Gap Conservation Area, Chesterfield, Virginia, US
Oct 8, 2016 7:55 AM - 9:47 AM
Protocol: Traveling
1.4 mile(s)
Comments: <br>Submitted from eBird Android 1.3-beta7
27 species
Canada Goose 51
Wood Duck 7
Double-crested Cormorant 1
Great Blue Heron 1
Great Egret 1
Black Vulture 1
Northern Harrier 1
American Coot 1
Laughing Gull 1
Mourning Dove 2
Red-bellied Woodpecker 1
Downy Woodpecker (Eastern) 2
Northern Flicker 6
Eastern Phoebe 3
American Crow 5
Carolina Chickadee 5
Tufted Titmouse 1
Carolina Wren 4
American Robin 20
Gray Catbird 2
Brown Thrasher 2
Northern Mockingbird 5
Common Yellowthroat 2
Palm Warbler 1
Song Sparrow 1
Northern Cardinal 4
Red-winged Blackbird 24
View this checklist online at http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S31942805 ;
<http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S31942805>
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (http://ebird.org/VA ;
<http://ebird.org/VA>)
