16 April 2009
      Resumed my field work here today after 3 weeks of working long hours. 
Luckily the cold weather slowed migration enough that it seem more like a 
late winter day than spring.  Checked the impoundments, then walked along 
Hunting Quarter Rd to the middle parking lot, then to the towpath, west to 
Horsepen Hiker-Biker before heading back to the impoundments.
      Not a bad day- 45 species.  Highlights were 18 Blue-winged Teal, 2 
Green-winged Teal, 9 Ring-necked Ducks, 4 GREAT EGRETS, a Green Heron, 15 
Am. Coots, a rough-winged swallow, 23 Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, and 20 Rusty 
Blackbirds.  Along the Potomac between Tenfoot and Maddux Islands there were 
at least 38 Double-crested Cormorants and 25 Bonaparte's Gull.
      As usual when I have been away for so long there are changes that make 
me ponder not coming back.  Today they were: letting the water out of the 
large impoundments  and PEPCO clearing all the vegetation under the 
powerlines along River Road which might affect nesting Prairie Warblers.
But shortly I was back in the swing of things and am ready to replace the 
swallow nesting boxes.

Paul Woodward
Fairfax City, VA