Peter Frechtel and I were able to shirk parental responsibilities and get out to Blue Mash Nature Trail this morning.  It was such nice morning that it would have been a fine walk without any birds.  But, as it turns out, there were plenty.

As is our tradition, we started off the morning with a flyby MERLIN.  Other raptors included a pair of AMERICAN KESTRELS, and SHARP-SHINNED, RED-SHOULDERED, and RED-TAILED HAWKS (and both vultures).

Plenty of geese were on the move early on, joined by a flock of 14 KILLDEER and a flyby WOOD DUCK drake.  Later at the "good" pond, more Killdeer were joined by 2 LESSER YELLOWLEGS and around 6 GREEN-WINGED TEAL.

Among the passerines, we did better than I had expected on warblers, with TENNESSEE, MAGNOLIA, BLACK-THROATED GREEN, and PALM (several "Yellow" and one "Western") joining hordes of YELLOW-RUMPED, plus a few COMMON YELLOWTHROATS.  2 BLUE-HEADED VIREOS were also present.  Late hangers-on included a Catbird and 2 House Wrens.

Sparrow diversity was nice but we had no outstanding finds: in addition to plenty of Towhees, we had CHIPPING, FIELD, SONG, SWAMP, WHITE-THROATED, and a single DARK-EYED JUNCO.

Jason Waanders
NW DC
jwaandersATstarpower.net