Rob Hilton & I did some birding along the Anacostia River this morning and
had a very good collection of birds.  We started at Kenilworth Park at
c.8:00 am, and quickly found a flock of c.20 AMERICAN PIPITS.  They were
feeding in short grass near the frozen "pond" (a dip that occasionally fills
with water).  We were near the top of the hill, heading towards the trail
that goes down to the Aquatic Gardens, when Rob drew my attention to a bird
flying over (he heard it call).  We immediately got on it, and watched as it
flew away from us, turned, and then went south towards the Langston Golf
Course.  I'm confident that it was a LAPLAND LONGSPUR now that I've had a
chance to listen to the recordings (best one is Roche's Bird Songs and Calls
of Britain and Europe).  We both heard it call, which I would describe as a
double noted tu-tu - richer, perhaps a little deeper, and not as thin as the
pipits that we had heard earlier.  What we were able to see on the bird was
a white belly & vent, brown tail (above and below), and brown above (rump,
back and wings).  It was smaller and not as long tailed and slender looking
as a pipit either (and by extension smaller than a Horned Lark too).  Snow
Bunting can be eliminated by the lack of white on the upper surface of the
wings and no sign of white in the tail (the white in longspurs' tails isn't
always apparent, and less so than a buntings).

We figured that'd be the end of the good birding, but after walking around
much of the park, we also found 1 BALTIMORE ORIOLE, at least 1 AM. TREE
SPARROW, a suspiciously large accipter (flew by too quickly to enough on
it), 3 KILLDEER, 10 HOODED MERGANSERS, 1 YELLOW-RUMPED WARBLER, plus numbers
of AMERICAN ROBINS, CEDAR WAXWINGS, and c.3 EASTERN BLUEBIRDS.

Just before we got back to the cars a flock of 20-25 HORNED LARKS flew by,
but didn't land.  We searched in vain for a Snow Bunting among them.

From there we went to Langston Golf Course in hopes of refinding the
longspur.  After getting permission to walk the course, we did the whole
loop.  Only good birds were 1 subadult male NORTHERN HARRIER, 3 more
RED-SHOULDERED HAWKS (bringing the day's total to 4), 1 PIED-BILLED GREBE, 1
EASTERN TOWHEE (heard calling in the Arboretum), and 2 female mergansers
(either Red-breasted or Common - seen poorly in bad light).  Alas, no
longspur.

On my way home I swung through Anacostia River Park, searching in vain for
Cackling Goose (there *still* are no good records for this species in the
District).  Lots of CANADA GEESE, and with them was 1 Greenland
WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE (orange billed).  I first found it on the river, but
then it flew up and landed with the Canadas in the field near the pool and
rec center.  This is the 4th record for this species in the last few years,
which is quite surprising to me, especially since they now clearly outnumber
Cackling Goose.

Good birding,
Paul Pisano
Arlington, VA