Hi, 

Paul Pisano texted me a little more than a half-hour ago; he thinks he may have seen the frigatebird from his subway car while the subway was crossing the Potomac River.  He is not positive about his identification, as he saw it briefly.  But he did run home from the subway, ransacked his books while on the phone with me, and ran out to his car to try to locate it.  

At a little before 4:40 pm the bird in question, was "over the pentagon marina".  He is not sure if what he saw was the frigatebird sighted by Robert Steele this morning.  Nevertheless, he is going to investigate.  I may head down to the river in about a half an hour after I eat something (and the traffic dies down or starts to).  

Good birding,

Rob Hilton
Silver Spring, MD

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Subject: Magnificent Frigatebird at Hains Point DC
From: Robert Steele <rsteele936 AT MSN.COM>
Date: Wed, 4 Aug 2010 08:42:37 -0400
I was doing my early morning tour of Hains pt. at about 8 am looking for 
migrating Caspian Terns, when looking north up the Potomac I was astonished to 
notice a bird gliding south that I never seen before. I watched it glide south 
for about two or three minutes. It looked to be close to the size of a Great 
Blue Heron and had long narrow black wings with a white underbelly. It had a 
long narrow black tail. 

As it glided past Hains pt. I ran to get my sibleys and confirmed that it was a 
Magnificent Frigatebird. It is our 97th bird here at the National Mall this 
year and the first since May. It this bird ever seen flying over DC?