Hi all,
I led a combined walk for the Montgomery Bird CLub and The Backyard
Naturalsit today at Black Hill Regional Park. We had perhaps 15 participants maybe a
few moe as folks dropped in and out as we went from one location to another.
Weather was cold but clear, temps 20-50 degrees with little or no wind.
We saw 55 species of birds, including 10 duck species (Mallard, A. Black
Duck, Wood Duck, Ruddy Ducks, Ring-necked and Lesser Scaups, Hooded Mergansers,
Gadwall, Buffleheads, 2 female Common Goldeneyes) and Bald Eagle, Red-tailed
and Red-shouldered Hawks, Sharpie and Coopers Hawks, as well as Purple
Finches (both brownies and purplies), many singing Fox Sparrows, Chipping, Field,
Song and White-throated Sparrows, juncoes and towhees. Also seen were
Golden-crowned Kinglets, bluebirds and waxwings, and one chickadee with very white
on the wings, but which flew off just as I was getting on the nape color,
leading us to wonder if it wasn't a Black-capped. Pied-billed Grebes were
numerous as were coots.
It felt great to be out in the first really seasonably brisk weather of the
fall, on such a lovely day!
Rick Sussman
Ashton,MD
|