Hotline: Voice of the Naturalist Date: 9/22/98 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 Tuesday, Sep 22, 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, YELLOW-BELLIED FLYCATCHER, PHILADELPHIA VIREO, and SAVANNAH SPARROW in DC; CINNAMON TEAL and BROAD-WINGED HAWK in VA; and SELASPHORUS hummingbird in MD. Other birds of interest include: PIED-BILLED GREBE; WHITE IBIS; AMERICAN AVOCET; AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVER; BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER; HUDSONIAN GODWIT; SANDERLING; WHIMBREL; WHITE-RUMPED, BUFF-BREASTED, and STILT SANDPIPERs; GREATER and LESSER YELLOWLEGS; DUNLIN; LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER; WILSON'S PHALAROPE; MERLIN; NORTHERN GOSHAWK; SANDWICH TERN; and CHIMNEY SWIFT. The VIRGINIA RAIL that is by now almost a fixture at the Enid Haupt Garden, Natl Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, SW DC, was most recently reported walking on the grass near the southeast entrance to the museum and then ducking into the yews outside the fence along Independence Ave, at 10 a.m. on Sept 21. It was also seen before 7 a.m. on both Sept 18 and 21. Other notable sightings in DC this week were a PHILADELPHIA VIREO, a YELLOW-BELLIED FLYCATCHER, and a SAVANNAH SPARROW, all noted at Rock Creek Park maintenance yard on Sept 18. A male CINNAMON TEAL in partial eclipse plumage was seen in a flock of more than 100 Blue-winged Teal in Accotink Bay, at the Accotink Wildlife Refuge, Ft Belvoir, Fairfax Co, VA, on Sept 16, 18, and 19. It was seen from near the archery range [ADC No. VA Map 32, B1]. To reach this spot, turn off US Rt 1 onto Gunston Rd. Watch for Warren Rd, and turn right. Follow Warren to the bottom of a hill and make another right. Proceed along the shoreline to the archery range. The flock of teal is usually seen near the Osprey nesting platform and an old pier. Morning light provides the best viewing conditions. Try to go at high tide, which will be 28 minutes before high tide in DC. (DC tides are listed in the Washington Post Metro section each day.) A hummingbird belonging to the SEPASPHORUS genus was observed for 15 minutes on Sept 17, at a feeder in a yard near Manor Country Club, which is southwest of the intersection of Norbeck Rd (Rt 28) and Georgia Ave (Rt 97), Rockville, Montgomery Co, MD. The bird was not seen there again. Local hawkwatches reported some record-breaking hawk flights this past week. BROAD-WINGED HAWKs made a major migratory push along the Appalachians. The highest one-day tally reported was from Snicker's Gap, along Rt 7, on the Loudoun/Clarke Co line, VA, where a record-shattering count of more than 19,000 BROAD- WINGED HAWKs passed through on easterly winds Sept 18. More than 2,000 BROAD-WINGs were tallied there on Sept 19. Approximately 1,100 BROAD-WINGED HAWKs were counted over a house in Manassas, VA, on Sept 19, and more than 600 passed this spot on Sept 17. Farther southwest, down the Appalachians, 1,120 BROAD-WINGED HAWKs were tallied at the Mendota Firetower Hawkwatch, Russell Co, VA, on Sept 16; and more than 2,800 were counted at this spot on Sept 20. Kiptopeke hawkwatch, Northampton Co, VA, set a new one-day record for MERLINs, with 462 birds tallied Sept 18. Other MERLIN reports included a single bird seen atop the AFL-CIO building, at 16th and I Sts, NW, DC, on Sept 17; and ten birds at Chincoteague NWR, Accomack Co, VA, on Sept 19. An immature NORTHERN GOSHAWK was spotted at the Mendota Firetower Hawkwatch, VA, on Sept 18, and another NORTHERN GOSHAWK was seen there on Sept 20. Sixteen PIED-BILLED GREBEs were frequenting Accotink Wildlife Refuge, VA, on Sept 16. Four WHITE IBISes were seen at Fisherman's Is NWR, Northampton Co, VA, the same day. Shorebirds are still being seen close to DC. Reports this week included an adult SANDERLING in winter plumage, and 135 LESSER YELLOWLEGs, all spotted in DC waters of the Potomac River at the mouth of Four Mile Run, on Sept 18. Also there that day were two BLACK-BELLIED PLOVERs, a DUNLIN, and three GREATER YELLOWLEGS. This same site hosted a STILT SANDPIPER on Sept 20. The mouth of Hunting Creek, south of Alexandria, VA, hosted a DUNLIN and a LONG-BILLED DOWITCHER, also on Sept 20. Farther afield, three BUFF-BREASTED SANDPIPERs were seen in Snow Goose Pool, Chincoteague NWR, VA, on Sept 19; and a WHIMBREL was frequenting tidal flats at Blackwater NWR, Dorchester Co, MD, the same day. In DE, three HUDSONIAN GODWITs, hundreds of AMERICAN AVOCETs, and three AMERICAN GOLDEN-PLOVERs were spotted in Raymond Pool, Bombay Hook NWR, on Sept 20. Also at Bombay Hook that day were an adult WILSON'S PHALAROPE, in Shearness Pool; and a WHITE-RUMPED SANDPIPER, at Bear Swamp. Three SANDWICH TERNs were frequenting Swan Cove, Chincoteague NWR, VA, on Sept 19. Large numbers of CHIMNEY SWIFTs are being seen nightly as they swirl into their roost sites in chimneys. One local report came from the 800 block of Fourth St, just south of Rt 198 east (Gorman Ave), Laurel, Prince George's Co, MD, on Sept 20. The chimney is on an old apartment building on the east side of the street, just before Marshall Ave. The birds generally begin to funnel into the chimney at about 7:15 p.m. and continue until dark. There will be a walk at Dyke Marsh, VA, on Thurs, Sept 24; call the leader, Paul DuMont of Arlington, at 703-931-8994, for information. There will be a walk at Pennyfield/Violette's Locks, MD, on Sat, Sept 26; call the leader, Paul Pisano of Arlington, at 703-685-3790, for details. There will be a walk at Dyke Marsh, VA, on Sun, Sept 27; call the leader, Bob Beard of Arlington, at 703-534-3178, for information. There will be a walk at Pennyfield/Violette's Locks, MD, on Wed, Sept 30; call the leader, Mike Bowen of Bethesda, at 301-530-8764, for details. There will be a reservations-only trip to Hart-Miller Is, MD, on Sat, Oct 3; call the leader, Gene Scarpulla of Towson, at 410-821- 0575, eves before 10:30, to reserve your spot. There will be a reservations-only trip to Cape May, NJ, the weekend of Oct 2-4; call the leader, Bob Augustine of Rockville, at 301-933-5970, to secure your place. To report bird sightings, you can fax your report to ANS at 301-951-7179, or email it to voice@capaccess.org. Please post email reports before midnight Monday, and be sure to include your name and Tuesday morning phone number. You may also call 301- 652-9188, ext. 3101, for a dedicated answering machine at all hours. Thank you for calling, and GOOD BIRDING. -- Steve Cordle Arlington, VA scordle@tidalwave.net http://www.tidalwave.net/~scordle