Will McPhail and I hoped the weather would bring in some good birds,
and weren't disappointed. During the heaviest part of the snow we
found the 34 Bonaparte's Gulls (maybe 35) in a very tight grouping on
Washington Channel. We scanned the gulls closely hoping for a Little
or Black-headed Gull, but no luck. I took a few photos, but remember
the conditions were pretty much the worst possible for telephoto
shooting so the image is lousy.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sherseydc/4316709058/sizes/o/
Also, the Redheads were found in the DC waters of the Dalecarlia
Reservoir, on the DC/Bethesda border. I posted a satellite photo that
shows the DC/MD border for any intrepid DC birders who want to take a
chance at a look. As you head towards MD on MacArthur Blvd, pull into
the second half of the circular drive on the North side of the road
and take a quick look. There is nothing that says "no trespassing",
but it is a government facility so take care. The Redheads were
pretty much straddling the border line for a bit, but were rapidly
(and kindly for us) swimming further into DC waters.
Satellite image of the reservoir showing the border line (courtesy of
bing.com): http://www.flickr.com/photos/sherseydc/4316709098/
Otherwise, we had a Bufflehead off Hains Point; the two American
Wigeons I found the other day at LBJ Grove were still present with a
couple Hooded Mergansers; and a whole lot of snow-covered Canada Geese
everywhere.
Cheers,
Steve Hersey
Washington, DC |