Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens

Robert (robert@csa.com)
Mon, 26 Apr 1999 08:42:54 -0400


Hi, 

Here is news from Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens, in northeast Washington,
DC....We were present from about 8 or 8:30 am to about 12:30 am.  

The first three species are distinctly uncommon in the District of Columbia:  

Little Blue Heron 
1 adult and 1 immature.  Seen by Ottavio Janni on Saturday April 24, both
were present on April 25.  On Sunday I talked to two people who had been at
Kenilworth the previous weekend and they said that the adult was present a
week ago.  The birds walked separately or together on dikes, or sat it a
tree.  The immature is often seen near the book store building, though
sometimes was in the back impoundments walking or perching; the adult was
only seen in the back impoundment area (at the far end from the book store
building).  

Glossy Ibis
1 seen by two K.A.G. personnel (who independently told me) on April 22 (?),
23, and 24, feeding on a frog maybe 15 feet from observers on the 24th.
Unfortunately, not seen by anybody during the 4 hours that I was present on
April 25.  

?Tricolored Heron
I saw what I thought was an individual of this species flying overhead and
diagonally away from me (heading southeast-ish) at the beginning of the
river trail.  In the 3 or 5 seconds that I observed the bird before
removing my binoculars and trying to get my friend to see it, I perceived a
white belly, dark wings, dark head and neck, trailing legs, egret flight
(as opposed to night heron flight).  This species is quite rare in the
Washington area, and I am being cautious as I didn't see the bird for very
long amount of time.  Lisa wasn't able to see it well and I never put my
binoculars on the bird again.  

Also present were: 
for a 5 Heron Day at Kenilworth: 
Great Egret, 1 around the impoundment
Black-crowned Night Heron, 1 (seen by Bill Dobbins along the river trail)
Green Heron
Great Blue Heron

these next five visible opposite the far right corner as you walk away from
the bookstore building, and relatively close: 
Killdeer
Greater Yellowlegs, 1
Lesser Yellowlegs, 1
Spotted Sandpiper, 2
Solitary Sandpiper

also:
at least 3 (5?) Rusty Blackbirds, 2 females and 1 or more males singing
1 Palm Warbler of the Western race

In all we saw about 64 species of birds at Kenilworth.  I thought that it
was slow, and indeed a fair number of species were represented by either
one individual or one encounter.  

Rob Hilton
April 26
robert@csa.com