I spent a couple of hours before and after sunset this evening birding at Kenilworth Park. The highlight was seeing the 4 or 5 displaying American Woodcocks back beyond the jersey barrier at the end of the road through the athletic fields... and also a quick silhouette of one bird flying by at about 30 feet away. They got started at 6:20 and were still displaying when I left about 20 minutes later.
Before sunset, I staked out the south edge of the aquatic gardens marsh (which can be accessed from the fields at Kenilworth Park) in hopes of hearing the previously reported Virginia Rail. Over about 45 minutes, I twice heard a brief and quiet kik kik kid-ik call of a Virginia Rail in response to my clicking imitations. Picking out the rail call was tricky, as there were also Carolina Wrens and a Winter Wren along the edge of the marsh whose call notes at times exactly matched the cadence of the rail call. The wrens were closer and much louder, probably preventing me from hearing more of the rail's calls (not to mention the noise of multiple helicopters, trains, and the rush hour traffic in the background).
I also stopped in at Kenilworth Sunday morning and saw the continuing Eastern Meadowlark and (Yellow) Palm Warbler, plus a flyover Horned Lark.
Scott Loss
Washington DC
--
|