[MDOsprey] The Voice of the Naturalist, 6/22/99
BlkVulture@aol.com
Tue, 22 Jun 1999 20:02:16 EDT
Hotline: Voice of the Naturalist
Date: 6/22/99
Coverage: MD/DC/VA/DE
Telephone: 301-652-1088 option 1
Reports (voice): 301-652-1088 option 2
(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 Tuesday, June 22,
at 12:30 p.m. 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: SWALLOW-TAILED KITE in VA; LITTLE
EGRET in DE; and *ANHINGA in MD and VA.
Other birds of interest include: a variety of sea and shore
birds; BROWN PELICAN; YELLOW-CROWNED NIGHT-HERON; COMMON and
HOODED MERGANSERs; RING-NECKED DUCK; COMMON MOORHEN; KING RAIL;
GULLS, including KELP, LESSER BLACK-BACKED, and GLAUCOUS; LEAST
TERN; MISSISSIPPI KITE; OSPREY; WILLOW FLYCATCHER; YELLOW-RUMPED
WARBLER; BLUE GROSBEAK; and BOBOLINK.
Huntley Meadows Pk, Fairfax Co, VA, is proving a mecca for
kites. The newest addition to the roster of sightings is a
SWALLOW-TAILED KITE, believed to be a second-year bird, spotted
there at about 12:45 p.m. on Fri, Jun 18. It was seen off and on
all afternoon, sometimes at close range, until 5:30 p.m., as it
caught dragonflies above the treeline and flew over the
observation tower. It was also seen again between 9:00 and 9:45
a.m. on Sat, Jun 19, but has not been reported since.
Sometimes flying with the SWALLOW-TAILED KITE was an adult
MISSISSIPPI KITE, seen at 2:30 p.m. on Jun 18, and again between
10:00 a.m. and 10:40 a.m., Jun 19. A MISSISSIPPI KITE was also
seen this morning, Jun 22.
The LITTLE EGRET that has been frequenting Bombay Hook NWR,
DE, was seen again during the week, most recently at 9:00 a.m.
and 1:20 p.m. on Jun 20 and also on Jun 21. Again this week, it
was usually seen in the vicinity of the SE corner of Raymond
Pool. It was sometimes frequenting the drainage channel that is
across the road from the SE corner of Raymond, shortly beyond the
boardwalk trail. When searching for this egret among the Snowy
Egrets, look for a bird with grayish lores and two, long,
breeding plumes on a crown that is not shaggy. Other
distinguishing features are the somewhat larger bill, chunkier
appearance, and feet that, though dark yellow, do not contrast as
strongly with the dark legs as in the Snowies.
Two ANHINGAs were seen flying low overhead, then circling on
a thermal, at the Patuxent River Naval Air Station, St Mary's Co,
MD, at 4:30 p.m. on Jun 15. The air station is a restricted
area, and you must have permission to bird there. For
information, call Kyle Rambo, at 301-342-3670 or 301-342-5456.
Two ANHINGAs were also seen in Southampton Co, VA, this week.
One was an adult male and the other was thought to be a female.
The pair were spotted at 12:30 p.m., Jun 19, as they were flying
just north of Rt 730 (Low Ground Rd), across from a sign for the
Old Ellis Farm, 0.4 miles west of the intersection of 730 with Rt
653 [DeLorme Pg 32, D3].
A variety of seabirds was turned up on a June 19 pelagic
trip out of Lewes, DE, to the Baltimore Canyon, more than 60
miles offshore. Seen in DE waters on that trip were three
BRIDLED TERNs, a single LEACH'S STORM-PETREL, and three NORTHERN
GANNETs. Seen in both MD and DE waters were a total of 241
WILSON'S STORM-PETRELs, 41 GREATER SHEARWATERs, 21 CORY'S
SHEARWATERs, and four SOOTY SHEARWATERs. Elsewhere offshore that
day, a WILSON'S STORM-PETREL was spotted working a chum slick off
Pt Lookout, St Mary's Co, MD; and an immature NORTHERN GANNET was
noted over the ocean at False Cape St Pk, Virginia Beach, VA.
The KELP GULL that has been frequenting the Sea Breeze
Restaurant, on the Patuxent River, Sandgates, St Mary's Co, MD
[DeLorme Pg 30, B2], is still being seen by birders and
restaurant staff. It was reported daily, Jun 15-17. There is no
discernible pattern to its time of arrival or departure during
the day. Other gull reports in our region this week, all on Jun
19, included a LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL, probably a third-year
bird, seen over the beach at False Cape St Pk, Virginia Beach,
VA; and both a second-summer LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL and a
second-summer/third-winter GLAUCOUS GULL, seen at Hart-Miller Is,
Baltimore Co, MD. In addition, Hart-Miller that day hosted a
male, breeding-plumaged WILSON'S PHALAROPE.
Up to four more WILSON'S PHALAROPEs were spotted in Raymond
Pool, Bombay Hook NWR, DE, over the weekend, along with a variety
of other shorebirds. A breeding-plumaged STILT SANDPIPER, with
about 100 SHORT-BILLED DOWITCHERs, was seen in Raymond Pool on
Jun 21.
Closer to DC, a singing male BOBOLINK was seen flying over
the field at the McCarty Farm Trail, Accotink Bay Wildlife
Refuge, Fort Belvoir, Fairfax Co, VA, on Jun 15. The same day, a
bird believed to be a BROWN PELICAN was spotted flying up the
Potomac River at the American Legion Bridge, at about 6 p.m.
A pair of OSPREYs appears to be nesting on the railroad
bridge that crosses DC waters of the Potomac River south of the
14th St Bridge. The nest, which is visible from the Metro-rail
bridge, is on the downstream side of the southern end of the
superstructure of the railroad drawbridge.
Two COMMON MOORHENs were seen at Hughes Hollow, Montgomery
Co, MD, on Jun 19. To look for them, walk down the main dike
from the parking lot, past the first impoundment, then turn right
on the cross-dike. The birds were about two-thirds of the way
down that path, in the water on the left.
Two adult LEAST TERNs were spotted from the raised area of
the boardwalk at Huntley Meadows Pk, VA, this morning, Jun 22,
between 10:00 and 10:15 a.m. A pair of LEAST TERNs has also been
frequenting the Metro station, Greenbelt, Prince George's Co, MD.
Recent reports there include a sighting early on the morning of
Jun 19, as the birds fished in a settling pond. To look for
them, park at the metro station and walk south-to-southwest,
parallel to the tracks, until you reach the end of the pavement.
You should see a cyclone fence topped with barbed wire. Walk
along the fence until you find one of two spots that afford a
good view of the pond.
A YELLOW-CROWNED NIGHT-HERON was spotted about 100 ft north
of Chain Bridge, DC, between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. on Jun 19. The
bird was on a low branch over water, on flats along the DC side
of the river. This same spot held a YELLOW-CROWNED NIGHT-HERON at
about this time last year.
A female HOODED MERGANSER with five young, and six adult
KING RAILs, were all observed at Huntley Meadows Pk, VA, on Jun
19, and a BLUE GROSBEAK was heard singing behind the tower there
the same day.
A WILLOW FLYCATCHER has been singing daily for several weeks
from a backyard in Poolesville, Montgomery Co, MD, with the most
recent report for Jun 16.
Reports of winter waterfowl included a male RING-NECKED
DUCK, spotted at the north end of Pool C, Back Bay NWR, Virginia
Beach, VA, on Jun 18 and 20; and a female or first-spring male
COMMON MERGANSER, seen in southern Highland Co, VA, on Jun 18.
Also in Highland Co was a singing male YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER,
noted at the Locust Spring picnic area, in the northwestern part
of the county, on Jun 17.
There will be a reservations-only walk at
Woodbridge/Occoquan Bay NWR, VA, on Sat, Jun 26; call one of the
leaders, Ken Hollinga of Springfield, at 703-569-9677, to secure
your spot.
There will be a reservations-only walk at Huntley Meadows
Park, VA, on Sun, Jun 27; call the leader, Ed Eder of Alexandria,
at 703-360-7994, to reserve your place.
A pelagic trip will depart Lewes, DE, on Sun, Sept 5; for
information and reservations, call 1-800-362-0869.
To report bird sightings, you can email your report to
voice@capaccess.org, or fax it to ANS at 301-951-7179. You may
also report by calling 301-652-1088 and selecting menu option 2.
Please post email reports before midnight Monday, and be sure to
include your name and a Tuesday morning phone number. Thank you
for calling, and GOOD BIRDING.
*Of interest to the Maryland/DC Avian Records Committee. See the
Species Review List at www.mdbirds.org/mddcrc/rcreview.html.
Submit documentation to: mddcrc@mdbirds.org.