As part of the C&O Canal Midwinter Count, I birded from mile marker 27 to mile marker 30 in Montgomery County. This starts near Sycamore Landing, and I found active waterfowl hunters on the Potomac at that location and then again near mile marker 30, so needless to say, the waterfowl numbers at the beginning and end of my stretch were very limited (the birds seemed to concentrate in the safe waters between the two sets of hunters). I heard lots of shooting but didn't attempt to count the birds they managed to hit ;<) Even so, it was good variety with 33 species including lots of woodpeckers (but no Red-headed), Winter Wren, lots of kinglets of both species, and good numbers of waterfowl between the two sets of hunters -- an incredible number of Bufflehead along with some Hooded Merganser, Black Duck, and Common Goldeneye. Complete list from eBird appears below.
Jim Nelson
Bethesda, MD
Location: Sycamore Landing
Observation date: 1/19/08
Notes: Part of D.C. Audubon's annual Mid-Winter C&O Canal Bird Count. From mile marker 27 to mile marker 30. Duck hunters active on River most of mile 27 and part of mile 29.
Number of species: 34
Canada Goose 3
American Black Duck 5
Mallard 10
Bufflehead 184
Common Goldeneye 3
Hooded Merganser 5
Great Blue Heron 1
Red-shouldered Hawk 1
Ring-billed Gull 1
Mourning Dove 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 25
Yellow-bellied Sapsucker 10
Downy Woodpecker 22
Hairy Woodpecker 3
Northern Flicker 3
Pileated Woodpecker 5
Blue Jay 7
American Crow 37
Fish Crow 9
crow sp. 7
Carolina Chickadee 46
Tufted Titmouse 24
White-breasted Nuthatch 29
Brown Creeper 17
Carolina Wren 25
Winter Wren 2
Golden-crowned Kinglet 16
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 13
Hermit Thrush 1
American Robin 8
Song Sparrow 1
White-throated Sparrow 22
Northern Cardinal 18
American Goldfinch 4 |