Slowly, slowly

I'm adding new birds to the year list slowly, slowly, but surely. Two have appeared this week, Osprey and Northern Shoveler. Ospreys were just a matter of time, since they nest in several places in the county, and in recent years I have been seeing the first ones return in late February. Not this year. But after being away from the county for a couple of days, I saw three on Monday, 10 March. Two of these were a pair at one of last year's nests, and they were already busy preparing for the coming nesting season. I watched one bird trying to break limbs from a tree, and then a little later saw one of the pair flying to the nest carrying a branch.


Although this has been a remarkable winter for ducks, there are still a few I have not seen in the county this year that should be findable. One that I was able to add to the list yesterday was Northern Shoveler. I was taking a quick look at a pond in eastern Prince Edward County when I saw a chestnut-bellied duck circling the pond, almost landing on it, then gaining elevation and flying away to the south. I could identify it as a male Northern Shoveler, but I was hoping for a better look. When I saw it head to the south I suspected it might be going to another pond just out of sight in that direction. I drove to a spot where I could scan that pond, and there he was.

Number 103: Northern Shoveler, 12 March 2014. Cell phone digiscope.

In addition to these new species for the Prince Edward big year, I've seen several other good birds in the past week. Highlights include Red-necked Grebes in Albemarle, Amherst, Appomattox, Bedford, and Buckingham counties and the city of Buena Vista, as well as the continued presence of many on the Prince Edward lakes. I was shown an active Bald Eagle nest in Rockbridge County last Saturday, and perhaps the biggest surprise came later the same day at Thrashers Lake in Amherst County, when I spotted an immature Golden Eagle circling over the lake just as I arrived.