DC Area, 8/11/98
Steve Cordle (scordle@tidalwave.net)
Tue, 11 Aug 1998 15:59:33 -0400
Hotline: Voice of the Naturalist
Date: 8/11/98
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, Aug 11, at
2:30 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.
Top birds this week are: VIRGINIA RAIL in DC; WHITE IBIS and
BROWN PELICAN in MD; RED-COCKADED WOODPECKER, MISSISSIPPI KITE,
SWALLOW-TAILED KITE, and BACHMAN'S SPARROW in VA; CURLEW
SANDPIPER in DE; and WHISKERED TERN in NJ.
Other birds of interest include: LITTLE BLUE HERON, SNOW
GOOSE, AMERICAN AVOCET, WILSON'S PHALAROPE, HUDSONIAN GODWIT,
dowitchers, WHIMBREL, UPLAND and WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPERs, terns,
PEREGRINE FALCON, COMMON NIGHTHAWK, WILLOW FLYCATCHER,
PROTHONOTARY WARBLER, DICKCISSEL, and BOBOLINK.
The VIRGINIA RAIL reported the past two weeks from the Enid
Haupt Garden, near the Smithsonian's Natl Museum of African Art,
SW DC, was seen again on Aug 5, 6, and 7 and the evening of Aug
8, but has not been reported since.
From outside our normal reporting area came reports of a
WHISKERED TERN, seen from the Cape May Pt hawkwatch platform on
Aug 8 and 9. For updates, call the Cape May Bird Observatory, at
609-884-2736.
In southern VA, just north of the NC border, the following
birds were noted on Aug 5: a RED-COCKADED WOODPECKER, a
BACHMAN'S SPARROW, two MISSISSIPPI KITEs, and a single SWALLOW-
TAILED KITE. The RED-COCKADED WOODPECKER was heard along Rt 625,
nearly 1/2 mi south of the bridge over Fountains Creek, a
tributary of the Meherrin River, SE of Emporia, Greensville Co
[DeLorme Pg 32, D2-3]. The kites were seen from the Rt 625
bridge itself. The BACHMAN'S SPARROW, an immature bird, was seen
SW of Emporia, in cutover slash on the north side of Rt 690, east
of Valentines, in the SE corner of Brunswick Co [DeLorme Pg 31,
D6].
A juvenile CURLEW SANDPIPER was feeding with other
sandpipers on mud flats at Assawoman Bay, as seen from the road
to Strawberry Landing, Assawoman Wildlife Area, DE [DeLorme Pg
45, D6; Pg 35, A6], on Aug 9. At the entrance to Assawoman
Wildlife Area, look for a map showing the road to Strawberry
Landing; the bird was seen from a vantage point about 1/4 mi from
the end of this road.
An immature WHITE IBIS was frequenting the mud flats at the
north end of Liberty Lake, on the Baltimore/Carroll Co line, MD
[DeLorme Pg 74, D2], Aug 8-10. The bird was seen both north and
south of the Rt 140 bridge over the lake. To reach this bridge
from the DC Beltway, go north on Rt 97, turn right on Rt 32
(Sykesville Rd), then left on Rt 91 (Gamber Rd). Follow Rt 91 to
Rt 140 and turn right, to the bridge. Be advised that Rt 140 is
a busy, four-lane highway. Also try turning north off Rt 140
onto Glen Falls Rd, which is on the east, or Baltimore Co, side
of the bridge. Go about 50 ft and park on the left, next to the
guard rail across the roadbed of the Old Westminster Pike. Walk
down the path that follows the roadbed. You can scope a large
area of the flats from the point where the roadbed disappears
into the lake.
At least 98 immature and adult BROWN PELICANs were
frequenting an island off-limits to the public at Blackwater NWR,
Dorchester Co, MD, on Aug 5. This may be the only nesting spot
for BROWN PELICAN in MD this year, with at least 20 chicks
produced, and is one of the most northern nesting sites for the
species in the world.
Bird sightings in DC this week included an adult PEREGRINE
FALCON perched on a post at Georgetown Reservoir, NW, Aug 10; and
two COMMON NIGHTHAWKs seen flying near the Tidal Basin and polo
fields, SW, near dusk on Aug 6. In NE DC, a PROTHONOTARY WARBLER
was heard along the Anacostia River at Kenilworth Aquatic
Gardens, on Aug 9.
HUDSONIAN GODWITs continue to frequent Raymond Pool, Bombay
Hook NWR, DE, with two birds seen on Aug 7, and 11 birds on Aug
8. Also in Raymond Pool on Aug 8 were a WHIMBREL, two WHITE-
RUMPED SANDPIPERs, and six WILSON'S PHALAROPEs. Smaller numbers
of WILSON'S PHALAROPEs were reported there earlier in the week.
A WILSON'S PHALAROPE in breeding plumage was also spotted at Lake
Knapp, at the Wildfowl Trust of No Amer, Horsehead Wetlands Ctr,
Grasonville, Queen Annes Co, MD, on Aug 4.
A BLACK TERN and three GULL-BILLED TERNs were spotted at
Assawoman Wildlife Area, DE, all on Aug 10. GULL-BILLED and
BLACK TERNs were also frequenting Bombay Hook's Bear Swamp, with
one of each species seen on Aug 8. Other tern reports included
98 FORSTER'S TERNs at Accotink Bay Wildlife Refuge, Fairfax Co,
VA, on Aug 7, and six COMMON TERNs there on Aug 4.
Large numbers of AMERICAN AVOCETs are still being seen from
the central tower at Little Creek Wildlife Area, DE, with 350
birds reported on Aug 8. Bombay Hook's Raymond Pool held 130
AMERICAN AVOCETs the same day.
An UPLAND SANDPIPER was spotted in a potato field on the
south side of the entrance road to Bombay Hook on Aug 7 and 9.
Another UPLAND SANDPIPER was spotted in a field of short
vegetation at the northwest corner of the intersection of Oland
Rd with Rt 85 and Lilypons Rd, Frederick Co, MD, on Aug 5, and
five UPLAND SANDPIPERs were seen at this spot on Aug 9. The
southwest corner of this intersection held a male and a female
DICKCISSEL on Aug 5, and a female DICKCISSEL was found there on
Aug 9.
Two DOWITCHERs, believed to be LONG-BILLED, were spotted at
Accotink Bay Wildlife Refuge, VA, on Aug 6. A blue SNOW GOOSE
was seen in the lake at Rio Shopping Ctr, near I-270 and I-370,
Gaithersburg, Montgomery Co, MD, on Aug 7. Fifteen LITTLE BLUE
HERONs, including 10 juveniles, were frequenting Courthouse Pt
Managed Hunting Area, Cecil Co, MD, on Aug 9.
Also at Courthouse Pt on Aug 9 were five BOBOLINKs. Two
more BOBOLINKs were spotted at Ted Harvey Wildlife Area, DE, the
same day, and one was spotted at Bombay Hook NWR on Aug 7.
A WILLOW FLYCATCHER was heard singing by a stream near a
residence on Tom Fox Ave, Poolesville, Montgomery Co, MD, during
the week.
Upcoming pelagics in our region include two trips on Sun,
Sept 13. One of the trips will depart VA Beach, VA; call Brian
Patteson, at 703-765-4484, for more information. The other trip
will depart Lewes, DE, for DE and MD waters; call Armas Hill,
tollfree, at 1-800-362-0869, for details.
The reservations-only trip to DE coastal areas the weekend
of Aug 22-23 is full. A short waiting list will be kept. Call the
leader, John Bjerke of Rockville, at 301-963-8525, if you would
like your name put on the list.
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.
--
Steve Cordle
Arlington, VA
scordle@tidalwave.net
http://www.tidalwave.net/~scordle