Manassas Battlefield/Vesper Sparrow
BlkVulture@aol.com
Tue, 13 Apr 1999 13:25:47 EDT
Hello,
Today, 13 APR 99 I walked the Battlefield, planning on spending the morning
at the defunct shopping center. I was only able to spend a few minutes in
that area, before I moved to the fields and scrub near the Park Service
Stables.
The temp started at about 41, with a stiff northwesterly wind, about 15 mph.
The sky was perfect for picking out loons and raptors, high clouds covering
about 80 percent of the blue. I began at 8:15, stopped at 10:30, with about
40 minutes of non birding in the middle.
Notable were the 7 common loons, 3 adult broad-wingeds, 6 adult red-taileds,
8 barn swallows, and 3 vesper sparrows.
The Vespers were seen in a field that is east of the road that leads to the
stables. This area is a mile or so away from where I previously had 2
vespers, 10 days ago. There is no public parking along this road, but there
is a parking lot at near the beginning of the road on US 29. It is just west
of the first crossing of Young's Branch.
The List:
Common Loon (7)
Canada Goose (4)
Mallard (4)
Black Vulture (3)
Turkey Vulture (12)
Sharp-shinned Hawk (2 adults)
Red-shouldered Hawk (2 adults)
Broad-winged Hawk (3 adults)
Red-tailed Hawk (6 adults)
Common Snipe (10)
Ring-billed Gull (35)
Mourning Dove (4)
Chimney Swift (1)
Red-bellied Woodpecker (1)
Downy Woodpecker (1)
Northern Flicker (1)
Eastern Phoebe (1)
Tree Swallow (2)
Northern Rough-winged Swallow (1)
Barn Swallow (8)
American Crow (8)
Fish Crow (15)
Carolina Chickadee (6)
Tuften Titmouse (2)
Ruby-crowned Kinglet (2)
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (1)
Eastern Bluebird (8)
American Robin (4)
Brown Thrasher (2)
European Starling (40)
Yellow-rumped Warbler (3)
Palm Warbler (4) all eastern
Northern Cardinal (4)
Eastern Towhee (2)
Field Sparrow (6)
Vesper Sparrow (3)
Savannah Sparrow (8)
Song Sparrow (6)
White-throated Sparrow (1)
Dark-eyed Junco (15)
Red-winged Blackbird (18)
Eastern Meadowlark (2)
Common Grackle (4)
Brown-headed Cowbird (6)
House Finch (4)
American Goldfinch (10)
Todd Day
BlkVulture@aol.com
Jeffersonton, VA