On Sat, 23 Jul 2011 08:44:46 -0400
Paul Pisano <> wrote:

> 3 Least Terns just flew down river and are now hanging out in
> Anacostia Park, just upriver from the PA Ave. Bridge. This was at
> 8:40 am.

I spent the morning birding the PGEO county section of the Anacostia
River.  I started at Bladensburg Waterfront Park (Marina) where I ran
into Jeff Shenot.  We had 0 (exact count) Least Terns fly past between
7:45 and 8:40; the terns Pisano et al found this morning must have
spent the night further downstream.  Shorebirds are starting to
arrive.  Two Leasts, a Solitary and lots of Killdeers.  I counted 3
Killdeers, then promptly claimed twenty.  Jeff didn't believe me and
did a careful count -- 21.  When am I going to learn: a wild guess
should never be a round number?

After Jeff left, I headed south along the west side of the river.  I
visited the old sediment ponds and the mouth of dueling creek.  The
ponds are filled with spoils from the dredging they do on the Anacostia
to keep the marina open.  I have seen good shorebirds in the past.
They're doing less dredging these days.  The river hasn't been dredged
since early winter.  The ponds are dry.  The only good find was an
adult Black-crowned Night Heron flying low over the middle pond.

At low tide, the mouth of Dueling Creek looks like it should be the
best shorebird spot in the county and it often has a better variety of
shorebirds than the marina.  Today was an exception; all I could find
were 3 Great Blue Herons and a small flock of Mallards.  At least the
viewing area is shaded.

Dave
David Mozurkewich
Seabrook MD
mozurk at bellAtlantic dot net

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