The following are the highlights of my birding trips today, to the
National Arboretum in the morning, and various points along the Potomac
from Roosevelt Island to Hains Point in the afternoon and early evening.

National Arboretum: I located the Nashville Warbler in the bushes near
the bathroom at the Asian Collection. It flew out from one of the
flowering bushes and landed on a bare reddish tree, where I had a very
good look at it. There were several Brown Thrashers singing in the
gardens. A Pied-Billed Grebe was in the Anacostia, and Common Mergansers
flew overhead. Hawks in the Arboretum included Sharp-shinned Hawk,
Red-shouldered Hawk, Bald Eagle, and Falcon-sp.

Roosevelt Island: I found two female Purple Finches in a treetop along
the boardwalk through the swamp, and a Field Sparrow feeding with a
flock of juncos near the southern end of the island. There were several
large flocks of Double-crested Cormorants along the Potomac, including
one group of about 100 just off the southern tip of the smaller island.

East Potomac Park / Hains Point: The highlight here was a group of four
COMMON LOONS in breeding plumage. I spotted them on the Washington
Channel near the Fort McNair seawall. A single male Bufflehead was in
the vicinity. Pied-billed Grebes were in both Washington Channel and the
Potomac, and Bonaparte's Gulls in varying stages of molt were at Hains
Point and under the 14th St. bridge. Other water birds included a Lesser
Scaup in the Potomac and a handful of Blue-winged Teal in a pond or rain
puddle on the golf course.

The loons were a nice surprise, as they were a new DC bird for me.

All the best,

John Beetham
Washington, DC
john.beetham AT verizon.net

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