Michel Cavigelli arranged access to a portion of BARC not normally open
to the public for a bird walk this morning.  Ten participants took
advantage of this rare opportunity to spend 4 hours slogging through a
lovely wetland.

Highlights were an ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER which gave us two short but
satisfying views and a MERLIN who flew past, then perched at the top of
a tree for prolonged study.  Also of note were an adult Blue Goose, two
Bald Eagles (one young, one adult on a nest), a Kestrel, 3 Meadowlarks
(are these the only ones in Prince George's County this winter?) and a
small flock of Rusty Blackbirds.  In all, a very nice mid-day walk even
though we did not relocate the Marsh Wren present here during both the
Bowie CBC and PG mid-winter counts.

The Orange-Crowned Warbler is the third I found this winter in Prince
George's County.  That puts me above my long-term average by somewhat
more than 2.5.  Are there more than usual wintering in the state this
year or have I been unusually lucky?
-- 
Dave Mozurkewich
Seabrook, PG MD


On Thu, 2009-02-26 at 18:05 -0500, Cavigelli, Michel wrote:

> I will be conducting a bird walk at Beltsville Ag Research Center this
> Sunday 10 am.  

> Michel
>