[MDOsprey] pelican (25 Aug PM & 26 Aug AM) and snag location

SSUTER (ssuter@aaas.org)
Thu, 26 Aug 1999 10:12:04 -0400 

     The pelican was on its favorite snag last evening, at elast from 1930 
     to 1945 as I biked downstream through Alexandria.
     
     And it was in the same location this morning at 0715.
     
     
     
     As to the location of the snag:  I originally favored DC waters, then 
     was convinced they were closer to the E shore than the boundary line, 
     and am coming to the conclusion that the snag is close to falling on 
     the boundary line itself (but probably lies slightly within the DC 
     wedge).
     
     I have used the USGS topographic sheet and the USGS orthographic photo 
     [that can be viewed at: 
     http://edcwww.cr.usgs.gov/Webglis/glisbin/showbrowse.pl?filename=doq_q
     q/A/alexandria_VA/O3807716.SES.12177.jpg ], and have attempted to 
     triangulate the location with sightings from a number of positions 
     along the Alexandria shoreline.  
     
     From the waterfront park at the foot of Wolfe Street, the snags appear 
     against the opening of the cove between I-295 & the Wilson Bridge (so 
     they lie N of the bearing to the usually cormorant-decorated tree at 
     the S entrance to that cove). From the foot of Duke Street (where 
     there is a small pier) the snags appears against the shore of the 
     point on the opening to the cove between I-295 & the Wilson Bridge, so 
     they lie to the S of the bearing to the point.  And from the 
     waterfront park between Wilkes and Gibbon Streets, the snag appears to 
     line up along the northernmost of the old, ruined piers.
     
     If I interpret Phil's "light and dark pixels" correctly, these bearing 
     demonstrate that those pixels definitely do NOT mark the location of 
     the snag (the pixels are too far to the S and E).
     
     I also attempted to esimate the position from my odometer after 
     glancing at the snag from the Wilson Bridge.  (It seemed to be between 
     0.4 and 0.35 mi from the VA shore.)  And I even tried looking back 
     under the Wilson Bridge from shoreline of Jones Point where the 
     boundary comes ashore.  Hard to do, because I am not sure the USGS 
     survey point there is exactly on the boundary and trees etc obscure 
     the view from the marker towards the shore (and bridge).  But my 
     impression was the snag falls slightly West of the boundary line.  
     
     And that is where my various sighting lines come closest to 
     intersecting--although given the scale of the maps and the photos, 
     there may be considerable error in the results.
     
     Any one wanting a undeniable MD or DC tick should probably play it 
     safe and count the bird when it is well away from the snag.
     
     Cheers and good birds,
     
     Sherman Suter
     Alexandria, VA 22307