Date: 12/20/20 7:54 pm From: Kurt Gaskill <dmarc-noreply...> (Redacted sender kurtcapt87 for DMARC) Subject: [va-bird] The Glenkirk Espress
VA BIRDers,
Due to Ben Jesup's recent note looking for help on The Plains CBC I volunteered to help out. Today I did the "Glenkirk Express" Subsector of Area 6. This consisted of Glenkirk Rd near Lake Manassas dam and nearby areas along Vint Hill, Burwell and Owls Nest Roads plus a property on the Lake; all are in the SE portion of the CBC circle. Since the start of the current circle about 20 yrs ago, these areas have seen considerable buildup of ex-urbia housing development.
Highlight were Palm Warblers - three in total - all of the yellow subspecies. The first was on Rollins Ford Rd and the other two were together at the "Future Rollins Ford Park" near the dam. Other highlights were Greater Scaup on the Lake, loosely associating with a group of Pied-billed Grebes (I saw very few ducks on the Lake). Additionally, there was a DC Cormorant noted early in the morning but never found again later in the morning or early afternoon. The most interesting highlight and arguably the most abundant species of the day was American Pipit. Three flocks were noted in different locations totaling 233 (80 @ Rollins Ford Rd at 0745, 43 at Burwell and Fitzwater at 1100 and 110 in wet fields and corn stubble on Hopkins Lane). In addition, there were 2 Horned Larks at the Future Rollins Fork Park. A flyover Rusty Blackbird along the private property at the Lake edge was nice and nearby a Merlin sought out the local sparrows. I also came across two Red-breasted Nuthatches plus an Eastern Phoebe. The biggest miss was Yellow-rumped Warbler which was surprising. Also surprising was missing Purple Finch or Pine Siskin which were present in fine numbers this fall but seem to be in reduced numbers this CBC season. (I am sure someone got them!) I finished the day at 62 species in about 6 hrs.
Kurt Gaskill
You are subscribed to VA-BIRD. To post to this mailing list, simply send email to va- <bird...> To unsubscribe, send email to <va-bird-request...> with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field. You can also unsubscribe, change your mail delivery settings to digest mode, or temporarily disable emails with vacation mode by going to https://www.freelists.org/list/va-bird, entering your email and selecting the desired option from the drop down.
