Duck Days

Highlights for the past week have been the unprecedented numbers of several species of ducks and other waterbirds that continue to appear in the county, and elsewhere in our region, perhaps due to the extensive freezing of lakes to our north. Here are some examples:

I wrote about finding the first White-winged Scoters for the county a couple of weeks ago. Last Friday, another group appeared at Sandy River Reservoir – seven this time, all adults. At least one was still there on Saturday, but I haven't seen them since.

More subtle, perhaps, but almost as surprising, is the number of Greater Scaup in the area right now. The species was not definitively recorded in the county until 2007, and the task is normally to find a single Greater Scaup amidst the Lessers. But for the past several days Greaters have outnumbered Lessers at Sandy River, and today I counted more than 60 there – by far a high count for the county.

Another species that is irregular here, though not completely unknown, is the Red-breasted Merganser. They first appeared Friday, and this evening I saw nine at Sandy River.

I saw 14 Redhead, all drakes, on a farm pond this afternoon, and five Canvasbacks, also all drakes, at Briery Creek Lake this morning.

Ring-billed Gull numbers also continue to build. My count / estimate at Sandy River this evening was 445, and at least four young Herring Gulls were mixed in with them.

Pied-billed Grebe numbers are building on the larger lakes, no doubt because the smaller lakes are freezing, and several Horned Grebes are around as well.

A few things I haven't seen yet this year, but that the cold might send our way, include the other two scoter species, Common Merganser, Red-necked Grebe, maybe a rare gull... and who knows what else.


Besides water birds, I've had a couple of other additions to the big year list. Last Thursday I was surprised to find a small flock of Purple Finches along the entrance road to Briery Creek. I'm glad I won't have to wait until next fall for that one. And most recently, I heard a Barred Owl this morning, which brought my county total to 91 species for the year.

Loons! and more ducks

Highlights of the past two days -- pre-storm and post-storm -- have been loons and ducks at Sandy River Reservoir. Yesterday a single Common Loon appeared on the lake, and not long after that I got good looks at a pair of Greater Scaup along with a few Lesser Scaup. Like most inland locations, in Prince Edward County, Greaters are much less common than Lessers, so they were a nice addition to the list.

Early this morning I was glad to see that the storm had passed leaving less than two inches of light snow near my home, and I was able to return to Sandy River in the early afternoon to see if the storm had brought anything other than cold, wind, and snow with it. Apparently it had.

The first new bird for the year was American Wigeon, a pair associating with Mallards and Gadwalls near the dam. Almost as exciting -- maybe more so, even though it was not a new species -- was an adult male Long-tailed Duck.

Male LTDU, 22 Jan 2014, Sandy River Reservoir

These birds are just beautiful, and even though this is the third record of the species here in recent weeks, it is not something I expected to see. Soon I had also noticed two Common Goldeneye above the dam -- another new species for 2014.

Moving to a site farther up the lake, I was amazed to see the male Long-tailed Duck less than 10 meters from shore when I drove in to the parking area, offering even better views than earlier. It was not far from the Greater Scaup pair, which also were even closer than they had been yesterday. I then started looking for the Common Loon -- and instead found two Red-throated Loons in nearly the same spot on the lake. This is a first county record for this species. I attempted to get pictures, taking breaks in my car when the cold was too much for my gloveless fingers.

About the best image I could get of two Red-throated Loons
22 Jan 2014, Sandy River Reservoir

During one of my car breaks I texted Fenton Day and he made it out to the lake in time to see the goldeneye, Greater Scaup, and Red-throated Loons. By the time he arrived the Long-tailed Duck had disappeared. With a single Bonaparte's Gull that I noticed mixed in with the Ring-billeds, my year list is now at 87 species.

Edging towards 80

Not a lot to report from the past week, just some cold and wet birding squeezed into my schedule that resulted in only a few new birds for the year. Probably the highlight was last Monday night, when we were discussing our evening plans and my daughter Anna said “we could go owling!” I must be raising her right.

I took her suggestion, and we went out searching for owls for about an hour and a half while the rest of the family was occupied elsewhere. After a few fruitless stops, a red phase Eastern Screech-Owl called in response to my recording, then flew in and landed within about 15 feet of Anna, giving her great looks before it flew away.

Today at Briery Creek I (finally) heard a Hairy Woodpecker, which made 80 species for the year so far. Otherwise -- there have been decent numbers of Ring-billed Gulls at Sandy River Reservoir this week, but no Bonaparte's (or any other species). A few Horned Grebes have been hanging around both Sandy River and Briery Creek Lake, along with the more common duck species, but that's about it for the highlights.

Scoters in the rain

I had no idea if I would even go birding today, since the forecast was for cold rain all day, but I had to run a few errands in Farmville and I decided to make a quick trip to Sandy River Reservoir afterwards. The rain had abated somewhat when I left my house, but by the time the errands were done and I drove into the parking lot at the lake the rain was steady again. But a group of Ring-billed Gulls sitting on the water caught my attention, and when I looked a them through the scope, I saw that they had a single first-winter Herring Gull with them – new for the year.


After watching the gull for a short time, the rain increased and I sat in my car debating whether to leave. I decided to wait a few minutes, and when the rain eased a bit I started to scan the lake. Two large, dark ducks stood out among the Ruddy Ducks above the dam. I immediately thought “scoters!” but was cautious; both had their heads tucked, and visibility across the water was awful. After a minute or so I could see white in their wings, and I knew that would make them White-winged Scoters, a first county record as far as I know, but the visibility was still poor thanks to the rain and mist.

Awful picture of a great duck -- White-winged Scoter

Gradually, though, the ducks came closer, the rain slowed even more, and it was clear that they were White-winged Scoters. I took some terrible pictures, though I did get some relatively good looks through my scope. At one point the two scoters took off and flew a couple of laps around the lower part of the lake, giving me great views of their white secondaries. They also spent a few minutes diving, but when I left they were resting again not far above the dam where I'd first seen them.

With this record, I've now seen all three species of scoters at Sandy River Reservoir, though it has been a few years since the last record of either Black or Surf scoters there. This is a definite plus for the big year, even more than the Long-tailed Duck. Just the sort of thing to make me glad I went birding in the cold rain.

Looking for longspurs

Or even one longspur, actually.

On Tuesday morning I was scanning the ducks at Sandy River Reservoir when Evan Spears showed up. He told me that his group had found a Lapland Longspur on a farm in western Prince Edward County during the Darlington Heights Christmas Bird Count last Sunday. This is a first record for the county, so obviously it would be a great addition to my year list. After receiving permission to visit the farm, I stopped by that afternoon on my way home from school. I found Horned Larks, with which the longspur would probably be associating, as well as American Pipits, but no longspur.
To make a long story short, I've been back the past two days, looking for the longspur, and have found larks on each visit, but no longspur.

Horned Lark in the driveway. 9 Jan 2014. Cell phone digiscope.

Other interesting birds included an adult White-crowned Sparrow singing a partial song this morning as well as several Savannah Sparrows. As long as the flock of larks stays around there's hope of seeing the longspur as well, but the next two days are supposed to be rainy, so I doubt I'll get to look for it much over the coming weekend.

The good news is that I did see some new birds for the year on the farm, and the 2014 county list is now at 73 species. Number 70 was Common Raven, a pair seen over US 15 south of Farmville (a common occurrence these days); number 73 was Brown-headed Cowbird, which is common on the farm (I saw over 350 there today). Also, while at Sandy River Reservoir on Tuesday morning, Evan and I saw a group of about 45 Redhead, a high count for the county as far as I know. When I visited briefly this afternoon, they were all gone.

I'm also starting to play the "what's next?" game, as in "which new species will I see next?" Some that I still need for the year are Hairy Woodpecker, Sharp-shinned Hawk, and Fox Sparrow, as well as several ducks and any owls. But I'd really like a longspur.

Ducks and Tweaks

A few days ago I wrote about my surprise at seeing a Canvasback at Sandy River Reservoir for my first duck of the year. Saturday morning, the largely white duck emerging from the dawn mist was a Long-tailed Duck. It could be one of the ones that were there last month, it could be a new arrival – but I was glad to see it.

Long-tailed Duck, Sandy River Reservoir,  4 Jan 2014

Until a few winters ago there were no Prince Edward County records of this species, and I wasn't counting on it for my big year. Several other ducks were around, though so were several duck hunters, one of whom flushed the Long-tailed Duck and the Ruddy Ducks he was with, but not before I could get a few pictures.

Not far away, the second surprise of the chilly morning was a Gray Catbird. While I would certainly count on seeing this species later in the year, to find one here in January is a treat, and represents one of the few January records for the county. Other new species from Friday and Saturday brought my year total for the county to 64 species. Although I am not a fan of the cold, the approaching weather system could well bring more ducks, gulls, and perhaps a Red-necked Grebe or something even more exciting our way during the coming week.

This is evident if you've visited the blog before today, but I decided to change its name. The original name was pretty bland, if descriptive. I also opened comments to anyone (you don't have to register to comment). More tweaks to the site will likely follow.

Getting Started!

I started my Prince Edward County big year today, not yesterday, since we were out of town visiting family for the New Year's holiday. I made it to Sandy River Reservoir this morning a little after 7 a.m. The lake was foggy... but I could see a large, largely white duck through the mist. When the fog finally lifted enough that I could identify it, I was pleasantly surprised that my first duck of the year was a drake Canvasback, accompanied by three drake Redheads. I would not have predicted that – a great beginning to the year. Other nice surprises in the morning were a few dozen Rusty Blackbirds foraging in a field with robins, and a flock of more than a dozen Chipping Sparrows.

I had to be at my office during the middle of the day, but after leaving did enough birding to reach 53 species by the time the light faded. The last 2+ hours were spent trying to add a few species in the cold rain. Best bird of afternoon was a House Wren – my first House Wren record for Prince Edward in January.