This gray, cold Sunday morning, 17 intrepid birders from the Montgomery Bird Club participated in our annual Presidents walk at Hughes Hollow/McKee Beshers WLMA and adjacent Sycamore Landing Road in Montgomery County. We were short of warblers and land birds generally and had small overall numbers of birds seen, but we had some interesting sightings. Most noteworthy were the 25 Common Loons seen high overhead flying north and two good sized flocks of Blue Jays also heading north. Spring arrivals included Great Egret, Barn Swallow, House Wren, Common Yellowthroat, and White-eyed Vireo. Sparrows were virtually non-existent except for a Swamp Sparrow and a few White-throated Sparrows, all heard only. We speculate that the Hooded Merganser seen flying out of the marsh may be nesting at Hughes Hollow in one of the Wood Duck boxes. We had 38 species at Hughes Hollow (complete list from my eBird report below) and added three more at nearby Sycamore Landing Road -- Black Vulture, Brown Thrasher, and Chipping Sparrow.
Jim Nelson
President, Montgomery Bird Club
Bethesda, MD
Location: Hughes Hollow - McKee Beshers WLMA
Observation date: 4/18/10
Notes: Annual Presidents Walk for Montgomery Bird Club.
Number of species: 38
Canada Goose 8
Wood Duck 4
Blue-winged Teal 4
Hooded Merganser 1
Wild Turkey 1
Common Loon 25
Great Blue Heron 4
Great Egret 2
Turkey Vulture 1
Red-shouldered Hawk 1
American Coot 2
Rock Pigeon 5
Red-headed Woodpecker 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 5
Downy Woodpecker 2
Pileated Woodpecker 2
White-eyed Vireo 1
Blue Jay 48
American Crow 1
crow sp. 2
Tree Swallow 30
Barn Swallow 1
Carolina Chickadee 6
Tufted Titmouse 3
White-breasted Nuthatch 1
House Wren 3
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 2
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 6
Eastern Bluebird 2
European Starling 2
Yellow-rumped Warbler 1
Common Yellowthroat 2
Swamp Sparrow 1
White-throated Sparrow 3
Northern Cardinal 5
Red-winged Blackbird 50
Common Grackle (Purple) 8
Brown-headed Cowbird 4
American Goldfinch 12 |