DC Area, 3/3/98
scordle (scordle@tidalwave.net)
Tue, 03 Mar 1998 17:40:49 -0500
Hotline: Voice of the Naturalist
Date: 3/3/98
Coverage: MD/DC/VA/DE
Telephone: 301-652-1088
Reports (voice): 301-652-9188 x3101
(fax): 301-951-7179
(email): voice@capaccess.org
(deadline): midnight mondays
Compiler: Jane Hill
Sponsor: Audubon Naturalist Society of the Central
Atlantic States (independent of NAS!)
Transcriber: Steve Cordle (scordle@capaccess.org)
!!Check www.capaccess.org/snr/vguide.txt for guidelines on
reporting your sightings!!
This is the Voice of the Naturalist, a service of the
Audubon Naturalist Society. This tape was made Tue, Mar 3, at
3:30 pm. Please consider joining the Society, especially if you
are a regular user of the Voice (Indiv.$30; Family $40; Nature
Steward $60; Audubon Advocate $100). The membership number is
above and the address is 8940 Jones Mill Road, Chevy Chase, MD
20815.
Top birds this week are: AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN and GOLDEN
EAGLE in MD and VA; NORTHERN GOSHAWK, PAINTED BUNTING, and RED
CROSSBILL in VA; SHORT-EARED OWL and crossbills in MD; and SAY'S
PHOEBE in PA.
Other birds of interest include: DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANT;
AMERICAN BITTERN; GREAT EGRET; TUNDRA SWAN; CANADA, BARNACLE, and
SWAN GEESE; REDHEAD; RED-BREASTED MERGANSER; HARLEQUIN DUCK; KING
and COMMON EIDER; KING RAIL; AMERICAN WOODCOCK; RED KNOT; LEAST,
WESTERN, and SPOTTED SANDPIPERs; LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL;
OSPREY; MERLIN; PEREGRINE FALCON; SHORT-EARED OWL; TREE SWALLOW;
BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER; OVENBIRD; PINE WARBLER; and FOX SPARROW.
An adult AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN was spotted in the Great
Marsh area of Mason Neck NWR, Fairfax Co, VA, on Feb 28. The
following day, an AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN that was probably the
same bird was seen in the Potomac River at Violettes Lock, C&O
Canal, Montgomery Co, MD, but then was not relocated a short time
later. The bird presumably is headed westward towards its
breeding grounds, so birders may want to search for it farther
upriver.
Two GOLDEN EAGLEs were seen near the entrance to the
wildlife drive at Blackwater NWR, Dorchester Co, MD, on Feb 28,
and an immature GOLDEN EAGLE was spotted in Bluegrass Valley,
Highland Co, VA, on Mar 1. Other raptors of note included an
adult NORTHERN GOSHAWK, spotted at Beaverdam Reservoir, Loudoun
Co, VA, on Feb 26. An adult NORTHERN GOSHAWK was also reported
from near the intersection of Sunrise Valley Pkwy and Reston
Pkwy, Reston, Fairfax Co, VA, the same day. Another raptor
highlight was a SHORT-EARED OWL, at Elliott Is Marsh, Dorchester
Co, MD, also on Feb 26.
Eleven RED CROSSBILLs, including five males, were seen in a
pine tree near the second power pole west of the entrance to the
golf course at Brambleton Reg Pk, Loudoun Co, VA, [DeLorme Pg 76,
A1; ADC Maps 29-30, 11 K,A], on Feb 26; this spot is on Rt 772
(Ryan Rd), just west of Rt 659 (Belmont Ridge Rd). A flock of
crossbills not identified to species was noted flying along Pine
Knob Rd, Liberty Reservoir, Carroll Co, MD [DeLorme Pg 57, A5],
on Feb 28; this location is about 0.8 mi east off Rt 32.
The PAINTED BUNTING that has been frequenting a feeder in a
trailer park south of Virginia Beach, VA, was reported again on
Feb 28; call the VA Birdline, at 757-238-2713, for details and
directions.
The SAY'S PHOEBE that has been at a farm near Newville, PA,
was seen again on Feb 25 and 28; call the Central PA Birdline, at
717-255-1212, ext 5761, for details and directions.
Two unusual geese were found this past week. A BARNACLE
GOOSE of undetermined origin was reported from Russell Co, VA
[DeLorme Pg 22, A1], on Feb 24, Feb 27, and Mar 1; call the VA
Birdline, at 757-238-2713, for more information. And a SWAN
GOOSE, probably an escaped bird, was spotted in a flock of Canada
Geese on the lawn at the Black Hill Reg Pk visitor center,
Montgomery Co, MD, on Mar 2.
Raptor sightings this week, in addition to those already
noted, included a PEREGRINE FALCON in downtown Rosslyn, VA, on
Feb 24; a MERLIN at 16th and I Sts, NW, DC, on Feb 27; and
another MERLIN in a residential neighborhood in Bethesda,
Montgomery Co, MD, also on Feb 27. Other raptor highlights
included numerous reports of OSPREYs returning to our region.
There were many other signs this week that spring migration
is underway, with some species moving unusually early. Among
these were a SPOTTED SANDPIPER, seen at Black Hill Reg Pk, MD, on
Feb 28, and eight LEAST SANDPIPERs and a single WESTERN SANDPIPER
at Hart-Miller Is, Baltimore Co, MD, on Feb 28.
Among the landbirds, an OVENBIRD spotted in a yard in
Reston, Fairfax Co, VA, on Mar 1, was an unusually early arrival.
Less unexpected but still welcome were a singing PINE WARBLER in
Liberty Reservoir, Carroll Co, MD, on Mar 1, and two more PINE
WARBLERs at a feeder in Jeffersonton, Culpeper Co, VA, on Mar 3.
Other harbingers of spring were TREE SWALLOWs and FOX
SPARROWs, reported in small numbers from many locations, and a
GREAT EGRET at Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens, DC, on Feb 28. Single
DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANTs were spotted at Hains Pt, DC, on Feb
27; at the Julie Metz Wetland Mitigation Bank, Prince William Co,
VA, on Mar 1; and at Mason Neck St Pk, Fairfax Co, VA, also on
Mar 1.
AMERICAN WOODCOCK put on a lively display all around our
region this past weekend; highlights included up to nine birds
heard in a single field near Whites Ferry, Montgomery Co, MD, on
Mar 1.
Four KING RAILs were noted at Huntley Meadows Pk, Fairfax
Co, VA, on Mar 1, and an AMERICAN BITTERN was heard calling there
the same day.
TUNDRA SWANs are moving northward, with counts in the
hundreds from numerous locations. High count was 720 birds at
Beaverdam Reservoir, Loudoun Co, VA, on Feb 28. CANADA GEESE are
also moving in large numbers.
Other waterbird reports were mainly of wintering species.
These included three COMMON EIDER and seven HARLEQUIN DUCKs at
Ocean City Inlet, Worcester Co, MD, on Feb 26. Two RED KNOTs
were there the same day. Nine HARLEQUIN DUCKs and a single
COMMON EIDER were seen at the inlet on Mar 1. Farther south,
five HARLEQUIN DUCKs, including several males, were at CBBT Is
#3, Northampton Co, VA, on Feb 28; and seven COMMON EIDER and two
KING EIDER, including males of both species, were at Is #4 on Mar
1.
Once again this week, RED-BREASTED MERGANSERs were noted in
surprisingly large numbers on inland waters. More than 40 birds
were observed at Beaverdam Reservoir on Mar 1; 20 birds were seen
at Belle Haven, Alexandria, VA, also on Mar 1; 33 birds were
noted at Black Hill Reg Pk, Montgomery Co, MD, on Mar 2; and 14
birds were seen on Clopper Lake, Seneca Creek St Pk, Montgomery
Co, MD, on Mar 1. Also at Clopper Lake on Mar 1 was a REDHEAD.
Among other wintering birds were two adult, winter-plumaged
LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULLs, one of them at Georgetown Reservoir,
DC, on Feb 28 and Mar 2, and the other bird at Leesylvania St Pk,
Woodbridge, Prince William Co, VA, on Mar 1.
The overwintering BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER that has been
frequenting Dyke Marsh, Alexandria, VA, was seen again on Mar 1.
The reservations-only trip to the Patuxent River Naval Air
Station, MD, set for Sat, Mar 7, is nearly full; call trip
coordinator Paul DuMont of Arlington, at 703-931-8994, by the
evening of Mar 3 if you are interesting in going. There will be
a walk at Sycamore Landing and Hughes Hollow, MD, on Sun Mar 8;
call the leader, Mike Bowen of Bethesda, at 301-530-5764, for
more information. The reservations-only trip to Patuxent River
Park (Jug Bay), MD, set for Sat, Mar 14, is full; to add your
name to the waiting list, or if you are signed up and unable to
participate, please call the leader, John Bjerke of Rockville, at
301-963-8525.
To report bird sightings you can FAX your report to ANS at
301-951-7179, or call 301-652-9188, extension 3101 for a
dedicated answering machine at all hours. The email retrieval
problem of the past two weeks seems to be resolved now, so
Internet users can again post reports to: voice@capaccess.org.
Thank you for calling, and GOOD BIRDING.