Hi All,
I love finding warblers in Rock Creek Park as much as anyone, but I have to admit that birding the same location get's a little dull. Therefore, I decided to branch out and find new birding locations in DC. Here are a few really productive locations:
1. Fort Totten: Mature oak forest, with nice understory habitat and quality woodland wildflowers. Nice mail trail and small side trails that allow for good looks at the birds (and good forest interior birds: Wood Thrush, Swainson's Thrush, Verry, Ovenbird, Cuckoos).
Location: one block east of the intersection of North Capitol St. and Allison St. NE. Bird activity good through at least 10am.
2. Rock Creek Cemetery: Open woodland with a grove of mature Oaks on a central ridge. small pond, and various leaky faucets that attract thirsty song birds. Birds relatively easy to see as they have no where to hide in this really open "woodland", so being there at the crack of dawn isn't necessary. Location: 1 block west of the intersection of North Capitol St. and Allison St. NW.
3. Upper Rock Creek - flood plain forest by the DC/MD border of Rock Creek/Beach Drive. Nice undergrowth. 2 paths - one hugging the creek, and another at the foot of the uplands. Trail is officially called Boundary or Boundary Line trail. Seems like bird activity is high through late morning and then picks up late afternoon.
Over the last two days I've had the following warbler species between Fort Totten and the Cemetery:
Tennessee Warbler
Nashville Warbler
Northern Parula
Magnolia Warbler
Cape May Warbler
Black-throated Blue Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler
Blackburnian Warbler
Blackpoll Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
Ovenbird
Common Yellowthroat
Hooded Warbler
Wilson's Warbler
American RedstartYellow Warbler
At Upper Beach Drive I had the following warbler highlights this season:
Prothonotory WarblerCanada WarblerChestnut-sided
Black-throated BluePalm Warbler
All three of these locations probably have even more species than I've been able to see recently... so I invite those interested in exploring a few new DC birding locations/migrant traps to come on down!
Good Birding!
Jason BerryWashington, DC
P.S. Don't forget to use eBird to record your sightings - Michael Bowen has made all of these locations hot spots, so it they are easy to find. Another benefit of recording your sightings under these specific hot spots is that we'll be able to build up a more comprehensive bird list for each site. Thanks!
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