post-lunch walk: Roosevelt Island, DC
Robert Weiner (rweiner@gwis2.circ.gwu.edu)
Fri, 10 Apr 1998 17:02:36 -0400 (EDT)
A post-lunch metro trip and walk on the island revealed the following, in
addition to the usual urban avian dwellers:
dc cormorant (crests up)
gb heron
wood duck
canada geese (honk if it's mating-ritual time!)
sharp-shinned hawk
osprey
killdeer
caspian tern
veery
yr warbler
e. towhee
field sparrow
the national park service (gremlins? extraterrestrials? perhaps someone
can enlighten me) is in the process of installing a wooden walk through
the swamp part of the island, which should make birding there less
problematic (boots are never out of fashion on this low-lying isle,
however).
the island is great for urban birding if one doesn't mind the regular
roar of planes approaching national airport and cars traversing the
Roosevelt bridge. things are greening up fast, redbuds and dogwoods are
in bloom, as well as some wildflowers, including a lovely yellow
mini-daisy type (sorry, not much for wildflower IDs--bloodroot, maybe?). a
couple of red tulips in bloom are perhaps left over from the Mason
plantation in the early 19th c.!
cheers (boos for dipping on bonaparte's gull, however, one of my target
birds for the trip . . .)
Robert Weiner (rweiner@gwis2.circ.gwu.edu)
George Washington University
Washington DC 20052
202 994 5981