Date: Tue, 31 Dec 2002 00:13:04 EST Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Kurt Gaskill Subject: Ft Belvoir CBC Highights, 12/29/02 Comments: To: va-bird@freelists.org MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit VA and MD BIRDers, The following is a brief summary of the highlights of the recently completed Ft. Belvoir CBC this past Sunday, 12/29/02. The count is centered near the Potomac River near Rt 1 and encompassed portions of southern Fairfax County, northern Prince William County, Prince Georges County and Charles County. I believe the highlight of the count was not one but TWO ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOWS. These were found by Bart Hutchinson and Ben Jessup at the Fairfax Co. water treatment plant in Lorton, just off Route 1. There is video tape footage and we are hoping some stills can be extracted. I believe this species is a new addition to the historical count list. Another great find was a Greater White-fronted Goose by Gwen Brewer off the Pistcataway Park area. Mixed in with a small group of Canada Geese that were last observed flying over the Potomac towards VA. A great bird - I know I spent part of this day looking for it over here in Fairfax County. At this point, it appears the count tallied 108 species, for which all the volunteers deserve a round of applause. Its only through dedicated individuals such as these that we can obtain information about our "backyard birds" which is so vital when land-use planning decisions are made, whether its for local, state or federal parks or the wood lot down the street. Other great species reported on the count (and please blame my poor memory if I forgot something): Common Loon off Fort Belvoir (the only one recorded!), many Double-crested Cormorants along the river (these are no longer very rare in our area in late December), Great Egrets near Piscataway and Fort Hunt, 5 Blue-winged Teal at Jackson Abbot Refuge, Redheads in several places in small numbers, Greater Scaup in several places in lower double digit numbers, a few Common Goldeneyes in the Potomac off Mason Neck and in Burke Lake, probable Long-tailed Ducks off Fort Hunt, several Red-breasted Mergansers in various places, two Lesser Yellowlegs in the Great Marsh of Mason Neck (not to mention 28 Greater Yellowlegs!), Am. Woodcock peenting at Accotink Wildlife Refuge, double digit numbers of Laughing Gulls, 3 Lesser Black-backed Gulls (and California Gull remains as Count Week), Boneparte's Gull at the Lorton water treatment plant, some Horned Lark over the Lorton prison site, Red-breasted Nuthatch at Pohick Golf Couse, Marsh Wrens at the Great Marsh of Mason Neck and Accotink Wildlife Refuge, Brown Thrashers at the BLM Meadowood site near Gunston Hall and the Piscataway area, Pine Warbler at the Meadowood site, Palm Warblers at the Great Marsh and Huntley Meadows, American Tree Sparrows at several sites including the Great Marsh and the Occoquan Bay NWR, about 10 White-crowned Sparrows at the Lorton prison site, and Rusty Blackbird at Julie Metz wetlands. Volunteer counters suggested the day was not overly birdy and few rarities were found by most teams. Although I do not have all reports, the one thing that stands out is that kinglet numbers appear to have been noticeably down. Also note that winter finches were exceptionally scarce (that is, none). Incidentally, the weather was fantastic, with most ponds unfrozen; at least 2 reports of bats were noted. I also saw a dozen plus moths in the forest near sunset. A more detailed report will be offered later. Kurt Gaskill, compiler and chief bottle washer, Ft Bevoir CBC ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================