-----Original Message-----
From: Steve Cordle [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Tuesday, March 17, 2009 1:09 PM
To:
Subject: DC Area, 3/17/09
Hotline: Voice of the Naturalist
Date: 3/17/09
Coverage: MD/DC/VA/DE
Telephone: 301-652-1088 option 1
Reports (voice): 301-652-1088 option 2
(email):
(deadline): midnight Mondays
Compiler: Joe Coleman
Sponsor: Audubon Naturalist Society of the
Central Atlantic States (independent of NAS!)
Transcriber: Steve Cordle ()
Please consider joining ANS, especially if you are a regular user of the
Voice (Individual $40; Family $50; Nature Steward $75; Audubon Advocate
$150). The membership number is 301-652-9188, option 12; the address is 8940
Jones Mill Road, Chevy Chase, MD 20815; and the web site is
http://www.AudubonNaturalist.org.
This is the Voice of the Naturalist, a service of the Audubon Naturalist
Society. This report was completed Tuesday, March 17 at noon.
Top birds this week are BLACK-BELLIED WHISTLING DUCK* in DE and PAINTED
BUNTING in MD.
Other birds of interest include RED-NECKED GREBE, CACKLING GOOSE, TRUMPETER
SWAN*, ducks, GOLDEN EAGLE, PEREGRINE FALCON, SANDHILL CRANE, AMERICAN
WOODCOCK, gulls, SNOWY OWL, NORTHERN SHRIKE, COMMON RAVEN, RUSTY BLACKBIRD,
RED CROSSBILL, WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILL, and COMMON REDPOLL.
The BLACK-BELLIED WHISTLING DUCK* continues to be seen from Lake Drive at
Silver Lake in Rehoboth, DE.
A male PAINTED BUNTING showed up in a Howard Co, MD, back yard on March 11
but has not been seen since.
A CACKLING GOOSE was seen at Burke Lake, Fairfax Co, VA on March 11 and
relocated there throughout the week. On March 14 a CACKLING GOOSE was seen
flying with a flock of Canada Geese at the Chesapeake Bay Environmental
Center, Grasonville, Queen Anne's Co, MD.
The four TRUMPETER SWANS* near Violette's Lock on the C&O Canal, Montgomery
Co, MD, were seen again on March 13.
BLUE-WINGED TEALS were reported from a couple of locations including two on
March 14 and 15 in the second impoundment above Penneyfield Lock, Montgomery
Co, MD.
RED-NECKED GREBES popped up all over the area with some of the reports from
Piney Run Park, Carroll Co, MD; Hains Point, SW DC; Burke Lake, Fairfax Co,
VA; in the Potomac River off Riley's Lock, Seneca, Montgomery Co, MD;
Triadelphia Reservoir, Howard and Montgomery Counties, MD; and on Gunpowder
River from the Hammerman Area of Gunpowder Falls State Park in eastern
Baltimore Co, MD.
A sub-adult GOLDEN EAGLE was seen March 11 with two Bald Eagles over a field
on the north side of Rte 3 between Washington's Birthplace and Westmoreland
SP, Westmoreland Co, VA. On March 14 a sub-adult GOLDEN EAGLE was seen at
the Pickering Creek Audubon Center, Talbot Co, MD.
The PEREGRINE FALCON pair, presumably the ones which have nested on the
American Legion Bridge, were seen March 14 along the Montgomery Co, MD
shoreline of the Potomac River just downstream from the bridge.
Three SANDHILL CRANES flew over a yard in Ferndale, Anne Arundel Co, MD, on
March 10.
Reports of displaying AMERICAN WOODCOCK continued from a variety of
locations.
On March 16 single first-cycle ICELAND GULLS and adult LESSER BLACK-BACKED
GULLS were found at both Skimmer Island and Eagles Nest Campground,
Worcester Co, MD. A first-winter GLAUCOUS GULL was found March 13 at the at
the Oyster, Northampton Co, VA boat ramp. Two LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULLS were
found on a turf farm in Prince William Co, VA, near Manassas on March 14.
The SNOWY OWL present in Havre de Grace, Harford Co, MD was seen again on
March 10. It was photographed perched atop the Tidewater Marina building at
Market and Fountain Streets. The same day a SNOWY OWL turned up in NW DC and
was seen on and off throughout the week.
A RED-HEADED WOODPECKER was seen March 14 for the second time in two weeks
along the towpath just a short distance below Violette's Lock, Montgomery
Co, MD. Several RED-HEADED WOODPECKERS were seen at Hughes Hollow,
Montgomery Co, MD on the 15th.
A NORTHERN SHRIKE was seen both on March 12 and 14 in Queen Anne's Co in the
vicinity of Round Top Rd and Kibler Rd.
A COMMON RAVEN was found March 14 at Oxbow Lake, Anne Arundel Co, MD and a
probable COMMON RAVEN was reported near Burke Lake Pk, Fairfax Co, VA, the
same day.
RUSTY BLACKBIRDS were again reported from a number of locations this past
week including 75 at Huntley Meadows Pk, Fairfax Co, VA on March 11; from
the Great Dismal Swamp NWR, Suffolk, VA on March12; at Hughes Hollow,
Montgomery Co, MD on March 12; and on March 15, from the Nokesville area of
Prince William Co, VA, and at the intersection of Willis Church Road and Rte
5 in Henrico Co, VA.
A female RED CROSSBILL was found with a flock of WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILLS on
March 14 in an extensive row of Norway Spruce along the east side of MD 65,
just south of Roxbury Rd, near Lappans, Washington Co, MD. Other
WHITE-WINGED CROSSBILL reports continued with regular sightings at Piney Run
Park, Carroll Co, MD, Centennial Park, Howard Co, MD, and Druid Ridge
Cemetery, Baltimore Co, MD.
Two COMMON REDPOLLS visited a feeder in Reston, Fairfax Co, VA on March 14.
Some of this week's reports have been gleaned from the MDOsprey, VA-Bird,
and Delaware list servers.
The Audubon Sanctuary Shop (301-652-3606,
http://www.audubonnaturalist.org/default.asp?page=511) is an excellent
source for guidebooks and many other nature-related titles.
To report bird sightings, e-mail your report to
or call 301-652-1088 and select menu option 2. Please post reports before
midnight Monday, identify the county as well as state, and include your name
and a Tuesday morning contact, either e-mail or phone.
Thank you for calling, and GOOD BIRDING.
*Of interest to the records committee. |