DC Area, 5/19/98
scordle (scordle@tidalwave.net)
Tue, 19 May 1998 20:17:09 -0400
Hotline: Voice of the Naturalist
Date: 5/19/98
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)
!*^*!*^*!Please remember to include your Tuesday morning
telephone number when reporting to the Voice!*^*!*^*!
This is the Voice of the Naturalist, a service of the
Audubon Naturalist Society. This tape was made Tue, May 19, 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,the address is 8940 Jones Mill Road, Chevy Chase, MD 20815,
and the website is http://www.AudubonNaturalist.org.
There were problems with the Voice's email server this week,
so all of your reports may not have been received. The problems
seem to be resolved now, however.
Top birds this week are: WHITE IBIS, PARASITIC JAEGER, and
BEWICK'S WREN in VA; THICK-BILLED MURRE, SWALLOW-TAILED KITE, and
MISSISSIPPI KITE in MD; RED PHALAROPE in MD and VA; and AMERICAN
GOLDEN-PLOVER and possible BAIRD'S SANDPIPER in DE.
Other birds of interest include: LEAST BITTERN, LITTLE BLUE
HERON, RED-BREASTED MERGANSER, COMMON MOORHEN, shorebirds, COMMON
NIGHTHAWK, flycatchers, RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH, thrushes,
warblers, LINCOLN'S and WHITE-THROATED SPARROWs, and RED
CROSSBILL.
An adult WHITE IBIS was found at the Dulles Greenway
Wetlands, along Oatlands Mill Rd (Rt 650), Loudoun Co, VA
[DeLorme Pg 80, D1], on the evening of May 18, and was observed
there again by three birders on May 19, between 7:30 and 9 a.m.
Remember that access to the wetlands is restricted. You may park
along Oatlands Mill Rd and view the wetlands from there.
Two species of kites were spotted in MD this week. A group
of birders at Pt Lookout St Pk, St Mary's Co, watched as at least
three MISSISSIPPI KITEs, all thought to be adult birds, flew
southward on the morning of May 17. And a SWALLOW-TAILED KITE
was seen near Hughes Hollow, Montgomery Co, on May 16. A first-
hand description and details about the location of the sighting
were not available, but the bird was reportedly flying over the
large field at the parking lot on Hunting Quarter Rd, east of the
Hughes Hollow impoundments, at 11 a.m. It was not relocated on
May 17 despite searching by a number of birders.
A bird reported as a BAIRD'S SANDPIPER was seen at Bombay
Hook NWR, DE, on May 14; it was in the marshy part of Raymond
Pool on your left just after you turn right, coming from the
Visitor's Center. There were no subsequent reports of this bird,
and a species this rare on the East Coast, especially in the
spring, would need further sightings to be confirmed.
Some interesting birds turned up farther south, on the MD
and VA coasts, on May 13, presumably driven there by on-shore
winds that had persisted for three or four days. In MD, a THICK-
BILLED MURRE was observed by at least five birders at the east
end of the south jetty at Ocean City Inlet, Worcester Co; and 11
RED PHALAROPEs, eight of them in breeding plumage, were seen
nearby, on West Ocean City Pond. In VA, a single RED PHALAROPE
in breeding plumage was found at CBBT Is #4, Northampton Co; and
a total of at least five, light-morph PARASITIC JAEGERs were
observed attacking Laughing Gulls at CBBT Islands #1, 2, and 4.
Three days later, after the weather cleared, a BEWICK'S WREN was
spotted on Is #2.
The recent deluge of rain left in its wake flooded fields
along DE Rt 9, south of Bombay Hook NWR. Shorebirds normally
found in the impoundments at Bombay Hook and Little Creek
Wildlife Area were attracted instead to these wet pools. Among
500 BLACK-BELLIED PLOVERs seen in these fields on May 12 were two
AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVERs. Also observed there that day were at
least 1,000 DUNLIN and at least 500 SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHERs.
Over the weekend, water levels in the refuge impoundments were
still high enough to discourage shorebirds.
Other shorebird highlights this week included at least 1,000
WHIMBRELs and at least 300 DUNLIN, all seen from a boat between
the town of Quinby and Cedar/Parramore Islands, Accomack Co, VA,
on May 14. Twenty-four WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPERs were reported
from Snow Goose Pool, Chincoteague NWR, Accomack Co, VA, on May
16.
Reports of water birds closer to DC included LEAST BITTERNs,
which were heard, and a COMMON MOORHEN, which was seen, at Hughes
Hollow, MD, on May 17. And a LITTLE BLUE HERON was spotted in a
drainage pond at Exit 10 (the Natl Inst of Stds and Tech exit),
off I-270, Gaithersburg, Montgomery Co, MD, on May 19.
Among the land birds were several flycatchers of note. An
OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER was seen again at Upton Hill Pk,
Arlington, VA, most recently on May 13. It was frequenting some
dead trees near benches in a picnic area on the right side of an
asphalt path that leads downhill. An OLIVE-SIDED FLYCATCHER was
also seen at Huntley Meadows Pk, Fairfax Co, VA, on May 16. It
was observed along the cedar trail that goes off to the left just
before the boardwalk; it perched in dead trees where the trail
bends sharply to the right.
A WILLOW FLYCATCHER was spotted at Hughes Hollow, MD, on May
17, as it perched on a dead branch in the second impoundment on
the right.
LEAST FLYCATCHERs were reported from a number of locations,
with a single bird seen and heard at Little Bennett Pk,
Montgomery Co, MD, on May 16; another bird seen and heard in
trees in the picnic area at Leesylvania St Pk, Prince William Co,
VA, on May 17; and at least three birds observed in the Four-Mile
Run and Glen Carlyn Park areas, Arlington VA, on May 13 and 14.
Thirty-three species of warblers were reported this week,
with BLACKPOLL WARBLERs noted in abundance.
GRAY-CHEEKED and SWAINSON'S THRUSHes are moving through our
region, with reports from a number of locations, and COMMON
NIGHTHAWKs are now being seen regularly in evening skies.
A LINCOLN'S SPARROW was noted at Huntley Meadows Pk, VA, on
May 15, and another one was spotted at Ft. Belvoir, Fairfax Co,
VA, also on May 15.
Lingering winter birds reported this week included a female
RED CROSSBILL spotted in an elm tree in Ashburn, Loudoun Co, VA,
on May 14, and six RED CROSSBILLs seen flying northeast near
picnic area #14, Rock Creek Pk, DC, on May 16. Also spotted at
Rock Creek Pk on May 16 were eight RED-BREASTED MERGANSERs,
headed northward. Five RED-BREASTED MERGANSERs were frequenting
Clopper Lake, Montgomery Co, MD, on May 15. RED-BREASTED
NUTHATCHES were observed lingering at Rehoboth Beach, DE, on May
16 and 17, and at Kent Is, Queen Annes Co, MD, on May 12. And
two WHITE-THROATED SPARROWs were noted in Rehoboth Beach, on May
16.
An upcoming pelagic in our region will depart VA Beach, VA,
on Jun 7; call Brian Patteson at 703-765-4484, for information.
There will be a reservations-only walk at Woodbridge Refuge,
VA, on Sat, May 23; make reservations with one of the leaders,
Jim Waggener of Woodbridge, at 703-497-0506. There will be a
reservations-only trip to Nolan's Ferry-Lilypons, MD, on Sun, May
24; call the leader, Mike Welch of Frederick, at 1-301-874-5828,
to reserve your place. There will be a reservations-only walk at
Huntley Meadows Pk, VA, on Sat, May 30; call the leader, Ed Eder
of Alexandria, at 703-360-7994, to secure your spot. There will
be a reservations-only trip to DE coastal refuges on Sun, May 31;
call the leader, Paul DuMont of Arlington, at 703-931-8994, to
reserve your place.
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. Internet users can
email reports to: voice@capaccess.org. Thank you for calling,
and GOOD BIRDING.