Sorry for the late report.
I led a group of birders from the Montgomery and Anne Arundel Bird Clubs on a joint walk from Pennyfield Lock to Violette�s Lock on the C&O Canal on Sunday morning. In spite of the beautiful morning and the recent passage of a front, we had very few migrants (only two species of warbler, a Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Red-eyed Vireo, Scarlet Tanager, and Yellow-billed Cuckoo, almost all single birds). We found 42 species total. Highlights were a Merlin that gave us a great views at the top of a snag opposite the first impoundment above Pennyfield Lock and at least five Bald Eagles. We saw two adult eagles flying with an immature bird above the lock at Pennyfield and later saw three immature birds interacting over the Potomac (two locking talons as adults do during mating flights), and later saw two adults circling above Blockhouse Point. At Violette�s Lock, several of us saw a Sharp-shinned Hawk interacting with a flock of European Starlings overhead, almost herding them into a tight formation like a shark around a school of smaller fish. As others have reported on the listserv, we observed groups of Blue Jays moving overhead in migration.
Complete lists from eBird are below.
Jim Nelson
Montgomery Bird Club
Bethesda, MD
Violette's Lock, Montgomery, US-MD
Sep 23, 2012 8:30 AM - 9:40 AM
Protocol: Stationary
Comments: Joint bird walk -- Montgomery Bird Club and Anne Arundel Bird Club. Birding around parking area and lock while waiting for all participants to arrive.
28 species
Mallard 1
Pied-billed Grebe 1
Great Blue Heron 2
Turkey Vulture 1
Osprey 1
Sharp-shinned Hawk 1
Mourning Dove 1
Yellow-billed Cuckoo 1
Ruby-throated Hummingbird 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 2
Downy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) 2
Pileated Woodpecker 1
Red-eyed Vireo 1
Blue Jay 13
American Crow 1
Fish Crow 1
Carolina Chickadee 4
Tufted Titmouse 2
White-breasted Nuthatch 2
Carolina Wren 1
American Robin 4
European Starling 18
Common Yellowthroat 1
Magnolia Warbler 1
Northern Cardinal 3
Indigo Bunting 1
American Goldfinch 2
C&O Canal, Pennyfield Lock, Montgomery, US-MD
Sep 23, 2012 9:55 AM - 12:20 PM
Protocol: Traveling
2.5 mile(s)
Comments: Joint bird walk for Montgomery Bird Club and Anne Arundel Bird Club from Pennyfield Lock to Violette's Lock.
29 species (+2 other taxa)
Mallard 5
Blue-winged Teal 6
Double-crested Cormorant 30
Great Blue Heron 1
Great Egret 3
Black Vulture 3
Turkey Vulture 2
Bald Eagle 5 There may have been more than five eagles. We saw two adults and one immature together, then three immatures together, and then two adults together. Since all were in flight, count shows minimum number to avoid duplication.
Buteo sp. 1
Yellow-billed Cuckoo 1
Chimney Swift 3
Belted Kingfisher 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 8
Pileated Woodpecker 1
Merlin 1
Eastern Wood-Pewee 1
Eastern Phoebe 3
Red-eyed Vireo 1
Blue Jay 21
American Crow 2
crow sp. 3
Carolina Chickadee 18
Tufted Titmouse 1
White-breasted Nuthatch 3
Carolina Wren 7
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 2
Eastern Bluebird 3
Gray Catbird 4
Cedar Waxwing 1
Scarlet Tanager 1
Northern Cardinal 7
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