(Fwd) DC Area, 1/26/99
Norm Saunders (osprey@ARI.Net)
Wed, 27 Jan 1999 04:09:52 -0500
------- Forwarded Message Follows -------
From: scordle@capaccess.org
To: birdeast@listserv.arizona.edu
Subject: DC Area, 1/26/99
Date sent: Tue, 26 Jan 1999 22:18:17 GMT
Hotline: Voice of the Naturalist
Date: 1/26/99
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.sitesbysteve.com/nvbc/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 Tues, Jan 26, at
2:45 pm. Please consider joining ANS, 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: CALIFORNIA GULL in DC; BLACK-
TAILED GULL and rufous-morph RED-TAILED HAWK in VA; and TRUMPETER
SWAN, EURASIAN WIGEON, and THAYER'S GULL in MD.
Other birds of interest include: RED-THROATED LOON, RED-
NECKED GREBE, AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN, AMERICAN BITTERN, REDHEAD,
HARLEQUIN DUCK, COMMON EIDER, VIRGINIA RAIL, PURPLE SANDPIPER,
ICELAND GULL, LITTLE GULL, BLACK-HEADED GULL, COMMON TERN, BALD
EAGLE, OSPREY, MERLIN, PEREGRINE FALCON, SHORT-EARED OWL, EASTERN
PHOEBE, RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH, AMERICAN PIPIT, ORANGE-CROWNED
WARBLER, PALM WARBLER, NELSON'S SHARP-TAILED SPARROW, AMERICAN
TREE SPARROW, WHITE-CROWNED SPARROW, LAPLAND LONGSPUR, and SNOW
BUNTING.
Water birds dominated the reports again this week.
An adult CALIFORNIA GULL was spotted at Georgetown
Reservoir, DC, on Jan 23. This could be the same bird that was
seen at the Tidal Basin on Jan 16.
Four swans that have been frequenting Conowingo Dam, on the
Harford/Cecil Co line, MD, have been providing frustratingly poor
views, but at least one of the birds was seen well enough to be
identified as a TRUMPETER SWAN, on Jan 21.
A first-winter THAYER'S GULL was seen at Redington Lake,
Patuxent Research Refuge Visitor Center, Prince George's Co, MD,
early on the afternoon of Jan 23. Also there that day was a
first-winter ICELAND GULL.
Another THAYER'S GULL was spotted at Conowingo Dam, MD, the
same day.
An adult BLACK-TAILED GULL was seen again on the rocks on
the west side of Chesapeake Bay Bridge/Tunnel Island #4,
Northampton Co, VA, on the afternoon of Jan 20. Also at the
Bridge/Tunnel this week, an adult, winter-plumage LITTLE GULL was
seen flying about the south side of Is #4 the morning of Jan 21,
and an adult LITTLE GULL was seen flying by Is #3 on Jan 23. Is
#3 was also hosting a first-winter BLACK-HEADED GULL, Jan 22.
Another first-winter BLACK-HEADED GULL was spotted at the
northeast corner of Indian River Inlet, DE, on the afternoon of
Jan 19.
A male EURASIAN WIGEON was observed near the west shore of
Assateague Island, Worcester Co, MD, the afternoon of Jan 19; it
was seen from Eagle's Nest Campground.
A rufous-morph RED-TAILED HAWK, a western form of the
species, was spotted again near Manassas, VA, the afternoon of
Jan 26. This bird was seen along the new VA Rt 234 bypass, south
of I-66. (Do not take the old Rt 234, now labeled "business").
The bird was seen on the east side of the bypass, in the
cloverleaf of the on-ramp for I-66 East.
An AMERICAN BITTERN was noted at Deal Is WMA, Somerset Co,
MD, on Jan 23. The same day, at Fort Story, VA, an adult
AMERICAN WHITE PELICAN was spotted offshore, was a COMMON TERN
was seen in a flock of Forster's Terns along the shoreline.
Ocean City, Worcester Co, MD, held a number of interesting
finds on Jan 23. Eight HARLEQUIN DUCKs were seen in the Ocean
City Inlet area. Just to the north, two HARLEQUIN DUCKs were
under the US Rt 50 bridge into Ocean City, as seen from the "4th
St Flats". Four male COMMON EIDERs, three of them adults, were
resting on a sandy beach on an island just south of the US Rt 50
bridge; this spot is at the end of Sunset Drive. And a single
female COMMON EIDER and a PURPLE SANDPIPER were at Ocean City
Inlet that day. Seven more PURPLE SANDPIPERs were observed at
Indian River Inlet, DE, also on Jan 23.
The same day, four VIRGINIA RAILs were frequenting Hart-
Miller Is, Baltimore Co, MD.
Also at Hart-Miller that day were two SHORT-EARED OWLs.
Other raptor sightings this week included a PEREGRINE FALCON seen
perched on the "Y" of the sign on the USA Today building,
Rosslyn, VA, at about 3 pm on Jan 22. A mature BALD EAGLE was
seen far up the Potomac River, where it is crossed by I-81, at
milepost 98 on the C & O Canal, Washington Co, MD, on Jan 24. An
OSPREY was spotted at Roaches Run, Arlington, VA, on Jan 23. The
same day, two MERLINs, either female or immature, were seen near
and on the golf course at Hains Pt, DC, and another MERLIN, a
male, was seen in a backyard in Potomac, Montgomery Co, MD. A
male MERLIN was also noted at NW Branch Golf Course, near Layhill
Park, Silver Spring, Montgomery Co, MD, the following day.
Large flocks of REDHEADs were reported, the largest
consisting of more than 400 birds seen on the Potomac River at
Seneca (Riley's Lock), C&O Canal, Montgomery Co, MD, on Jan 24.
Forty REDHEADs were noted at Lake Artemisia, near College Park,
Prince George's Co, MD, and about a dozen birds were seen just
upstream from Great Falls Park, MD, during the Montgomery Co mid-
winter bird count, Jan 23. And 19 REDHEADs were seen at Silver
Lake, Rehoboth, DE, on Jan 24.
A RED-NECKED GREBE was noted near the sunken ships off
Kiptopeke St Pk, Northampton Co, VA, on Jan 23. The same day, a
total of approximately 25 RED-THROATED LOONs were observed at
Ocean City, MD, and Indian River Inlet, DE. A single RED-
THROATED LOON was found at Triadelphia Reservoir, on the
Montgomery/Howard Co line, during the Montgomery Co mid-winter
count, also on Jan 23.
Warblers reported this week included an ORANGE-CROWNED
WARBLER, seen again at LBJ Grove, Columbia Is, DC, on Jan 19; and
a PALM WARBLER, found off Old Baltimore Rd, northeast of Olney,
MD, during the Montgomery Co mid-winter count, Jan 23. A RED-
BREASTED NUTHATCH was seen at Cape Henlopen St Pk, DE, on Jan 24.
Also on the 24th, two LAPLAND LONGSPURs were spotted in a
field at Evans Rd and Ironshire Station Rd, southwest of Berlin,
Worcester Co, MD. Three NELSON'S SHARP-TAILED SPARROWs were seen
at Indian River Inlet, DE, the same day. Four AMERICAN PIPITs
and 17 SNOW BUNTINGs were frequenting Hart-Miller Is, MD, on Jan
23.
Forty-one WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWs and six AMERICAN TREE
SPARROWs were seen in the Lucketts area, Loudoun Co, VA, on Jan
25. Eighteen WHITE-CROWNED SPARROWs were frequenting Prime Hook
NWR, DE, Jan 24.
And an EASTERN PHOEBE was coming to a feeder near Rock Creek
Stream Valley Park, Laytonsville, Montgomery Co, MD, on Jan 23.
Upcoming pelagics in our region depart VA Beach, VA, on Feb
6 and 20. Call Brian Patteson, at 703-765-4484, to reserve your
spot.
There will be a walk at Dyke Marsh, Alexandria, VA, on Sun,
Feb 7; call the leader, Len Alfredson of Arlington, at 703-416-
2718, for more information. There will be a reservations-only
trip to Eastern Shore coastal areas, DE through VA, the weekend
of Sat, Feb 13, through Mon, Feb 15; 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 email it to voice@capaccess.org. You may also
call 301-652-9188, extension 3101, for a dedicated answering
machine at all hours. Please post email reports by midnight
Monday, and be sure to include your name and a Tuesday morning
phone number. Thank you for calling, and GOOD BIRDING.
===============
Norm Saunders
Colesville, MD
osprey@ari.net