Early this afternoon I made another trip to Merkle Wildlife
Sanctuary. Although I saw the immature White Ibis last
Sunday, I missed the Little Blue Herons (which would be
a county bird for me). The park naturalist told me that he
had seen three Little Blues (two immatures, one adult) in
Windmill Pond this morning (while the ibis hadn't been seen
since Friday). He suggested that I walk down the dirt service
road between Windmill and Merkle Ponds to try to find the
herons. As I approached the pond, I flushed one of the
immature Little Blues AND the ibis! Both flew up to a large
limb hanging over the pond, where I had excellent looks at
both (for the ibis, much better than last week).
On the way to Merkle I stopped at Schoolhouse Pond in Upper
Marlboro, where I found the immature Black-crowned Night
Heron in its usual roosting place. Also on hand were a nice
assortment of "everyday" birds, including singing vireos,
yellowthroats, towhees, and Indigo Buntings.
Not bad for birding in the dead of summer.
Elaine Hendricks
Greenbelt, MD (PG County)
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