What an awesome day.  My brother Jack & I went down to the Red--shouldered Hawk's nest by Cabin John Creek this morning to take some pictures using his digiscoping equipment.  I, uh, forgot to check out the position of the sun last week (well, it was cloudy) and discovered that at 9 am the sun sits, oh, exactly right behind the hawk's nest.  So no pix of those birds today.

However, on the way there, we heard several NORTHERN PARULAs singing, and actually even saw 1 (first of the year).  Song Sparrows, Tufted Titmouse, American Robins, Carolina Chickadees, American Goldfinch and Northern Cardinals were all singing away, too. BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHERs were abundant.  Downy Woodpeckers flew in and out.

When we reached the observation point for the hawk's nest, there was a RED-SHOULDERED HAWK on the nest.  After half an hour, another RSHA flew in from the east with something in its talons and perched at the very top of a nearby tree (also right in front of the sun).  It soon flew down to the nest and dropped what appeared to be some kind of mouse-type mammal (vole? it was furry) into the nest, then settled in.  We couldn't see it feeding anything, but couldn't help wonder if there were fledglings in the nest (anybody know why else the bird would drop the food into the nest?).

We then walked north along the river path, with WHITE-THROATED SPARROWS singing in the background.  A male/female pair of WOOD DUCKs were moving out on the river (and were swiftly moved downriver with the fast flowing current...the river was very high, wiping out some of my favorite hiking territory).  We heard 2 more Northern Parulas, plus a Red-bellied Woodpecker.  2 YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLERs moved thru the trees next to us (and kept with us for most of the day...or were those other YRWA's?).  2 CASPIAN TERNS flew downriver.

RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD, BROWN-HEADED COWBIRD, FISH CROWs, GREAT BLUE HERONs, Common Grackles and TURKEY VULTUREs all flew overhead.  Dozens (hundreds?) of DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANTs were going up and down the river, plus a couple dozen roosted in the trees just to the south and west of MP 8 (we saw at least 2 on nest).

A gorgeous male HAIRY WOODPECKER foraged the trees to the east of the canal near MP 8.  We spent the next half hour camped on the river bank waiting for the male PILEATED WOODPECKER to return to the nest tree from which he had flown just as we arrived.  While we were waiting, he moved all around the nearby area calling for companionship.  Eventually, there seemed to be an answering call and he returned to the nest in apparent anticipation (naturally, just as we were packing up our gear).  Jack got some good shots of him peering out the nest entrance, and we heard him calling softly as we left.

On our way back up to MacArthur Blvd, a Carolina Wren sang/called by the path, while another staked out his territory nearby.  2 TREE SWALLOWs flew east over Cabin John Creek as we ran up the hill to our car (not hardly!).

We made it down to Sycamore Island in the early afternoon,  As we walked along the bank to a spot where we could observe the Bald Eagles (only, of course, when they flew over MD waters), there seemed to be WILD TURKEY tracks along the bank.  They were noticably larger and quite different from the webbed-tracks of the Canada Geese we saw around.  

As we reached our observation point, a female RED-BREASTED MERGANSER flew in by the bank to the south of us and gave us very nice looks.  NORTHERN PARULA sang as it moved through the area.  And were were fascinated to see the Carolina Chickadees mating right over our heads (courtship began with a wing-flutter by the female who was quickly mounted by the male).  Their song during this brief period was notably different...much softer, higher-pitched...to the extent that I didn't recognize it as chickadee-song and went looking for these strange birds.

During the time we were there, from 12:30pm to 2 pm, we think we only saw 1 BALD EAGLE.  It was the one on the nest.  It flew off to the east, toward us and over Sycamore Island.  An eagle (the same one?) flew back to the nest nearly right over our heads 4 minutes later with a fish in its talons.  It flew to the back lip of the nest and dropped the fish in.  While we couldn't see any eaglets thru our binocs or scope at the time, the digi-pix Jack took and sent me later showed not 1, but 2 eaglets on the nest!

Too bad they're in Virginia and won't be mentioned again until they leave the nest and fly over MD waters.

Other birds that attracted our attention included CASPIAN TERNs (5), TREE SWALLOWs (2), RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET, WOOD DUCK (1 m/f pair in its usual place at the southern tip of the island; then 3 males wi 1 female later).  A PILEATED WOODPECKER flew through the woods to the east, beyond the canal.  A half-dozen GREAT BLUE HERON flew along the river (but only 1 set as a pair, in formation).

Than an all-white dove circled the area, unlike any Rock Dove we had seen before.  That was a fitting close to the day.

Best,  & good birding tomorrow!

Frank Powers
Glen Echo, MD
Montgomery Co.


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