Commuter birding
Gerstens (gerstens@erols.com)
Sat, 07 Mar 1998 22:59:45 -0500
VA and MD birders,
When I first started commuting to DC for my new job I was concerned
about a cut in birding time. As it turns out just the opposite has
occurred. My bus stop in Herndon/Reston is across the street from the
Sunrise Valley Wetlands - part of the wetlands mitigation project - on
Sunrise Valley Drive. I've seen the following in my first week of
birding on my way to work:
* immature goshawk on 3/7
* 4 red crossbills on 3/6 in the conifers at the east end of the
bridge
* adult coopers hawk on 3/5
* phoebe on both 3/4 and 3/5
* yellow-bellied sapsucker on 3/4
* rail species - on 3/3
* red shouldered hawk on 3/2 and 3/6
And plenty of bluebirds, mallards, canada geese, red-winged blackbirds,
goldfinches, robins, yellow-rumped warblers, flickers, song sparrows and
other regulars throughout the week. All were between 7:30 and 8:20 am
except for today's goshawk at 10:20 am.
Haven't yet seen any falcons from my office overlooking McPherson
Square. I'm hopeful.
Birding and work haven't mixed so well since I worked for the Wild Bird
Center seven years ago.
Bye for now,
___________
David Gersten
Herndon, VA
gerstens@erols.com