-----Original Message-----
From: Steve Cordle [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Tuesday, August 02, 2011 1:21 PM
To:
Subject: DC Area, 8/2/11
Hotline: Voice of the Naturalist
Date: 8/2/2011
Coverage: MD/DC/VA/DE/WV panhandle
Telephone: 301-652-1088 option 1
Reports (voice): 301-652-1088 option 2
(email):
Compiler: Lydia Schindler
Sponsor: Audubon Naturalist Society of the
Central Atlantic States (independent of NAS!)
Transcriber: Steve Cordle ()
Please consider joining ANS, especially if you are a regular user of the
Voice (Individual $40; Family $50; Nature Steward $75; Audubon Advocate
$150). The membership number is 301-652-9188, option 12; the address is 8940
Jones Mill Road, Chevy Chase, MD 20815; and the web site is
http://www.AudubonNaturalist.org.
This is the Voice of the Naturalist, a service of the Audubon Naturalist
Society. This report was completed Tuesday, August 2, at noon.
Top bird this week is BLACK-BELLIED WHISTLING-DUCK* in VA.
Other birds of interest include TUNDRA SWAN, WILSON'S STORM-PETREL, WHITE
IBIS and other waders, MISSISSIPPI KITE, shorebirds including MARBLED
GODWIT, LAUGHING GULL, terns, BLACK SKIMMER, HORNED LARK, PURPLE MARTIN,
GRASSHOPPER SPARROW, and DICKCISSEL.
The BLACK-BELLIED WHISTLING-DUCK* at Chincoteague NWR, Accomack Co, VA, was
reported again on July 26; as before it was seen along the first quarter of
the Wildlife Loop.
A TUNDRA SWAN foraged amidst a bonanza of geese, herons, shorebirds, and
gulls on the mudflats at the mouth of Hunting Creek, off the George
Washington Parkway, Fairfax Co, VA, on July 26.
As least 5 WILSON'S STORM-PETRELS were "dancing on the waters of the Bay"
off Port Mahon Rd, DE, on July 30.
WHITE IBIS, mainly juveniles, showed up throughout the area: In MD, along
the causeway to Assateague Island NS, Worcester Co; at the courthouse pond
at Port Tobacco Village in Charles Co; and at Beauvue Ponds, St. Mary's Co.
In VA, WHITE IBIS were seen at Crewe's Channel in Henrico Co, and they
appeared at several locations in WV, including Stauffer's Marsh in Berkeley
Co as recently as Aug 1-this perhaps a
first for WV's Eastern panhandle.
Three MISSISSIPPI KITES were observed soaring over the Burke/Springfield
area of Northern VA on July 30. Single MISSISSIPPI KITES were seen over
Adkins Arboretum in Caroline Co, MD, July 31, and near Greenbelt Lake,
Prince George's Co, MD, Aug 1.
It's shorebird season! At least 22 species, by the thousands and even
hundreds of thousands, are flooding sites such as Bombay Hook NWR, DE.
Among the birds at Bombay Hook is an entertaining gang of more than 100
AMERICAN AVOCETS.
A PIPING PLOVER was found at Salt Ponds public beach, Hampton, VA, on July
27.
Three UPLAND SANDPIPERS were reported July 26 from Oland Rd, Frederick Co,
MD. As many as 10 UPLAND SANDPIPERS were frequenting the airport in
Salisbury, Wicomico Co, MD, between July 26 and July 30. Two UPLAND
SANDPIPERS were present at the sod farm on John Brown Rd, Queen Anne's Co,
MD, on July 29.
A WESTERN WILLET was at Point Lookout SP, St Mary's Co, on July 30 and Aug
1.
Two MARBLED GODWITS--and a WILLET--visited the Port Tobacco marina (off
Shirley Rd at Ann Harbor) in Charles Co, MD, on July 30. That same day a
MARBLED GODWIT was seen at Taylor's Gut, north of Bombay Hook NWR.
WHIMBREL reports came from two DE locations, Cape Henlopen SP and Broadkill
Beach Rd, both on July 30.
Swan Creek/Cox Creek hosted a MARBLED GODWIT on July 30 and a BAIRD'S
SANDPIPER on July 29, as well as 2 BLACK SKIMMERS on July 27. (This
industrial facility in far northeastern Anne Arundel Co, MD is open to the
public only during work hours [Mon-Fri 7:30-3:30]; birders are welcome but
need to sign in.)
On July 31, 3 WILSON'S PHALAROPES foraged in the impoundments along
Broadkill Beach Rd, DE.
Ever-changing arrays of waders and shorebirds are also being enjoyed at a
variety of additional locations, including Paper Mill Flats, Baltimore Co;
the many sites strung along Delaware Bay; the Brown Station Rd recycling
pond, Prince George's Co; and Triadelphia Reservoir, on the
Montgomery/Howard Co [MD] line.
LAUGHING GULL is an uncommon visitor to Montgomery Co, but on July 31 an
adult LAUGHING GULL was observed flying up the Potomac near Seneca Creek.
That same day 2 LAUGHING GULLS were reported flying over a yard in Cheverly,
Prince George's Co, MD.
SANDWICH TERNS were among 6 species of tern seen July 31 in DE, mostly at
Gordon's Pond, a part of Cape Henlopen SP outside Rehoboth Beach. A July 29
trip to Poplar Island, Talbot Co, MD, turned up 5 tern species, including
BLACK TERN. On July 26 a LEAST TERN was again seen on the Anacostia River in
NE DC; it perched on a piling in a marina about 200 yards north of the Sousa
(Pennsylvania Ave) Bridge.
On Aug 1, a phenomenal 27,500 PURPLE MARTINS were reported from Richmond,
VA, where they had commandeered 11 pear trees as a pre-migration roost site.
DICKCISSELS, along with other field birds, were still being reported.
On July 30, 1 DICKCISSEL was singing along Westerly Rd near Poolesville,
Montgomery Co. On July 30, farm fields in NE Loudoun Co, VA, held juvenile
HORNED LARKS and GRASSHOPPER SPARROWS as well as DICKCISSELS. And Atlasing
near Winchester, in Frederick Co, VA, turned up evidence of breeding
DICKCISSELS as well as dozens of newly fledged GRASSHOPPER SPARROWS.
Most of this week's reports have been gleaned from the MDOsprey, VA-Bird,
West Virginia Birding List, and DE-Birds list servers.
The Audubon Sanctuary Shop (301-652-3606,
http://www.audubonnaturalist.org/default.asp?page=511) is an excellent
source for guidebooks and many other nature-related titles.
To report bird sightings, e-mail your report to
or call 301-652-1088. Please post reports before midnight Monday, identify
the county as well as state, and include your name and a Tuesday morning
contact, either e-mail or phone.
Thank you for calling, and GOOD BIRDING.
*Of interest to the records committee
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