A nice wave of new birds in Ft. Bayard Park this morning, with the best being a SAVANNAH SPARROW, a species that has shown up once for each of the past 3 springs. Also of note were 2 PHOEBES, a fine-looking PINE WARBLER, 2 male PURPLE FINCHES, one singing CHIPPING SPARROW, and a flyover NORTHERN ROUGH-WINGED SWALLOW, my first for the park.

Yesterday I flushed up an interesting bird from the ground in the grove area along 46th Street edge of the brush--I had only a brief not-so-good look, but it gave me the impression of being larger than a dove, like a woodcock or snipe.  I was unable to find it after it landed or on two other attempts later in the day, despite the lack of any significant cover, so I may have just misjudged the size and it may well have been a dove that kept flying.  Still, with all the reports of stray woodcocks lately, it's had me wondering....

Jason Waanders
jwaandersATstarpower.net
NW DC