Date: 5/9/13 10:23 am
From: Scott Loss <scottrloss...>
Subject: [MDBirding] Kenilworth Park & Aquatic Gardens - Yellow-breasted Chat, Bobolinks, Grasshopper Sparrow
I spent much of the morning birding all around Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens today (thank goodness for a flexible work schedule!) and ended up recording a ridiculous list of 90 species seen, heard, and flying over. Numerous highlights are listed below. In addition to those DC rarities, the fields and shrubby areas were full of color and song: numerous Blue Grosbeaks, Indigo Buntings, and Orchard Orioles; and the wooded edges at KAG had Scarlet Tanager, Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Veery, Wood and Swainson's Thrush, and both orioles.

YELLOW-BREASTED CHAT - Kenilworth fields, singing and perched up near the mowed path to the marsh (DC bird #202)
BOBOLINK - a group of 9 females seen in Kenilworth fields
GRASSHOPPER SPARROW - singing, seen, and photo'd in the peninsula of little aspens between the two athletic fields in Kenilworth fields
AMERICAN WOODCOCK - flushed from the edge of the paved trail past the jersey barrier at Kenilworth Fields
AMERICAN PIPIT - At least 3 lone fly-overs early at the fields
17 WARBLERS - (Chat + Prairie, Blue-winged, Chestnut-sided and Blackpoll around the shrubby parts of the field; Magnolia, Cape May, N. Waterthrush et al. along the river trail at KAG).

The whole list follows:

Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens, District of Columbia, US-DC
4.5 mile(s)
90 species

Canada Goose 30
Wood Duck 2
Mallard 5
Common Loon 3 Early flyovers at athletic field
Double-crested Cormorant 85 Numerous groups between 6 and 40 individuals flying north
Great Blue Heron 1
Great Egret 1
Osprey 2
Killdeer 3
Spotted Sandpiper 3
Solitary Sandpiper 3
Greater Yellowlegs 1 Briefly landed in flooded parking lot near jersey barrier at athletic fields
Least Sandpiper 4 Briefly landed in flooded parking lot near jersey barrier at athletic fields
American Woodcock 1 Flushed from roadside past jersey barrier
Laughing Gull 1 Smallish gull intermediate between Bonaparte's and Ring-billed size; full black hood; completely black primary tips, with much dark gray- black on rest of primaries
Ring-billed Gull 8
Mourning Dove 2
Yellow-billed Cuckoo 2
Chimney Swift 12
Red-bellied Woodpecker 2
Downy Woodpecker 2
Hairy Woodpecker 1
Northern Flicker (Yellow-shafted) 2
Peregrine Falcon 1
Eastern Phoebe 1
Great Crested Flycatcher 2
Eastern Kingbird 2
White-eyed Vireo 3
Blue-headed Vireo 1
Warbling Vireo 2
Red-eyed Vireo 4
Blue Jay 3
American Crow 2
Fish Crow 4
Northern Rough-winged Swallow 4
Purple Martin 1 early flyover at athletic fields
Tree Swallow 2
Barn Swallow 6
Tufted Titmouse 2
White-breasted Nuthatch 1
House Wren 2
Carolina Wren 3
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 3
Eastern Bluebird 1
Veery 2 River trail at KAG
Swainson's Thrush 1 River trail at KAG
Wood Thrush 1 River trail at KAG
American Robin 8
Gray Catbird 8
Northern Mockingbird 2
Brown Thrasher 1
European Starling 45
American Pipit 3 At least, probably a couple more, but don't want to double count; all lone flyovers early above the athletic fields; sparrow sized birds giving pip-it call, could vaguely see the streaking and white outer retrices on one of them
Ovenbird 1
Northern Waterthrush 1
Blue-winged Warbler 1 In shrubby area past jersey barrier
Black-and-white Warbler 2
Nashville Warbler 1 River trail
Common Yellowthroat 8
American Redstart 2
Cape May Warbler 1 Fittingly, in the only pine tree on the river trail at KAG (near end of trail)
Northern Parula 5
Magnolia Warbler 1 River Trail
Yellow Warbler 3
Chestnut-sided Warbler 1 Past jersey barrier
Blackpoll Warbler 1
Black-throated Blue Warbler 2
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Myrtle) 14
Prairie Warbler 1 Singing from exact same place as last year past jersey barrier; likely trying to breed
Yellow-breasted Chat 1 Shrubby edge near mowed path to marsh on edge of aquatic gardens
Chipping Sparrow 2
Field Sparrow 2
Savannah Sparrow 4
Grasshopper Sparrow 1 Singing and seen at north edge of fields in the shrubby edge by the edge of the young aspen thicket (I will post a photo later)
Song Sparrow 3
Swamp Sparrow 4
White-throated Sparrow 14
Scarlet Tanager 1
Northern Cardinal 4
Rose-breasted Grosbeak 1
Blue Grosbeak 4
Indigo Bunting 4
Bobolink 9 All females, in the grassland; all sitting together in a couple of shrubs, big sparrow looking birds with yellowish wash on underparts, intricately patterned upperparts, blackbird bills
Red-winged Blackbird 12
Common Grackle 4
Brown-headed Cowbird 6
Orchard Oriole 4
Baltimore Oriole 2
American Goldfinch 3
House Sparrow 5

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