We had a nice walk from Pennyfield Lock to Blockhouse Point today.  It started out cloudy and very quiet from a bird perspective.  Later the birds seemed to come alive as the day brightened and the sun eventually peeked through.  The two impoundments upstream from Pennyfield Lock are both without any open water and are overgrown with grasses and other plants.  The Potomac River is very low with lots of rocks and driftwood that would normally be under water fully exposed.  Lots of swallows over the River but hard to identify.  Great Blue Herons were everywhere.  Nice views of a pair of Osprey and an immature Bald Eagle over the River.  Few migrants.  A couple of small flurries of activity yielded Yellow-throated Vireo, Red-eyed Vireo, American Redstart, and Black and White Warbler.  A complete list follows from my eBird report.

Jim Nelson
Bethesda, Montgomery County

Location:     C&O Canal, Pennyfield Lock
Observation date:     8/19/07
Number of species:     38

Canada Goose     30
Mallard     2
Double-crested Cormorant     6
Great Blue Heron     17
Green Heron     2
Turkey Vulture     7
Osprey     2
Bald Eagle     1
Red-shouldered Hawk     2
Mourning Dove     6
Yellow-billed Cuckoo     4
Chimney Swift     22
Ruby-throated Hummingbird     2
Red-bellied Woodpecker     3
Downy Woodpecker     4
Hairy Woodpecker     1
Northern Flicker     2
Pileated Woodpecker     3
Eastern Wood-Pewee     6
Great Crested Flycatcher     1
Yellow-throated Vireo     1
Red-eyed Vireo     3
Blue Jay     14
American Crow     6
crow sp.     2
swallow sp.     50
Carolina Chickadee     10
Tufted Titmouse     8
White-breasted Nuthatch     3
Carolina Wren     7
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher     7
Gray Catbird     1
Black-and-white Warbler     1
American Redstart     1
Northern Cardinal     13
Common Grackle     2
Baltimore Oriole     1
American Goldfinch     9