Hi all, 

Thought a lovely spring morning out birding seemed the best way to celebrate Easter, and Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens (KAG) proved a good choice. We also went over to Kenilworth Park later but many "celebrants of the soccer ball" made the whole area rather birdless. It was quite cold and getting breezy when we did the boardwalk area but happy to hear a singing COMMON YELLOWTHROAT, FOS for us. About a dozen CHIMNEY SWIFTS (FOS for us in DC) chittered above. The water in the marsh was very high (spring tide) but alas no rails or bitterns flushed out onto the higher round, as we have seen at times in the past. A Greater Yellowlegs was in one of the half-drained lily ponds. There was more activity along the River Trail and we were pleased to see our FOS PALM WARBLERS and (for DC) BLUE-GRAY GNATCATCHER, as well as five Hermit Thrushes. Quite a few Swamp Sparrows, some singing, were in the marsh. However, no Rusty Blackbirds today. A number of Ruby-crowned Kinglets were singing and we also enjoyed two Brown Creepers. As we exited the Gardens, at least two Yellow-rumped (Myrtle) Warblers and some lingering Juncos were in the small trees along the path. At the Park, the only bird of note was a singing FIELD SPARROW. 

full eBird list below: 

Gail Mackiernan and Barry Cooper 
Colesville, MD 

Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens - Kenilworth Park, District of Columbia, US-DC 
Apr 8, 2012 8:00 AM - 10:30 AM 
Protocol: Traveling 
2.5 mile(s) 
Comments: Sunny, cold at first, warming somewhat later; breezy (wind up to 15 mph). Bird activity low but livened up after 9:30 AM. Kenilworth Park busy with ball games, little activity, most birds seen in Gardens. 
44 species (+1 other taxa) 

Canada Goose 25 estimate; several seen on nests 
Mallard 2 
Great Blue Heron 5 
Osprey 2 
Bald Eagle 1 fly-over heading west 
Sharp-shinned Hawk 1 
Red-shouldered Hawk 1 
Greater Yellowlegs 1 
Ring-billed Gull 4 
Chimney Swift 12 FOS for us in DC 
Red-bellied Woodpecker 3 
Downy Woodpecker 1 
Hairy Woodpecker 1 
Northern Flicker 6 
Eastern Phoebe 2 nesting under boardwalk 
Blue Jay 5 
American Crow 3 
Fish Crow 6 
crow sp. 25 
Tree Swallow 12 
Barn Swallow 6 at colony under Metro RR bridge; FOS in DC for us 
Carolina Chickadee 4 
Tufted Titmouse 2 
Brown Creeper 2 
Carolina Wren 5 
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 3 FOS in DC for us 
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 4 several singing 
Hermit Thrush 5 
American Robin 15 
Northern Mockingbird 3 
European Starling 20 estimate 
Common Yellowthroat 1 singing male; FOS for us 
Palm Warbler 3 "yellow" Palms; one singing; FOS for us 
Yellow-rumped Warbler 2 "Myrtle" ssp., one singing male 
Chipping Sparrow 2 singing males 
Field Sparrow 1 singing in park no-mow area 
Song Sparrow 10 
Swamp Sparrow 8 several singing males 
White-throated Sparrow 25 
Dark-eyed Junco 3 
Northern Cardinal 6 
Red-winged Blackbird 40 best estimate; some males competing for territory with chasing flights 
Common Grackle 12 
American Goldfinch 8 
House Sparrow 3 

This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 ( http://ebird.org ) 

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