FreeLists / va-bird / [va-bird] Re: Grebe sightings, keep them coming...

["Dorothy M. Tella" <dtella@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hello VA Birders:

Yesterday afternoon at Great Falls National Park (on the Potomac River in
Fairfax County, VA) I watched two Red-necked Grebes enjoying a high-protein
feast.  Just above the dam at the upper end of the park, the river was
carpeted with winged insects (they looked to me like moths, with a
wingspread of perhaps 3/4") that were flitting on the surface of the water,
and the grebes were snatching them up at the rate of 15-20 a minute. While I
watched, one of the grebes noticed an insect flying a foot or so overhead
and leaped out the water to catch it in midair.  This was so interesting to
see and I wish I knew both what the insects were and why they were there:
whether because the warm weather (close to 60° yesterday) brought them out
or because something attractive to the insects was being carried down the
river from the melting snow upstream?  Does anyone know?

There were at least three more Red-necked Grebes that I could see a little
farther upriver yesterday (putting them in Riverbend, rather than Great
Falls Park.)  Monday afternoon I counted six between the Riverbend Park
visitor center and the lower end of Riverbend Park.  All these birds were in
winter plumage.  Most were within a few feet of the VA shore, allowing
marvelous, close views from the path that runs along the river. The only
problem is that the path itself is now in terrible condition, extremely
muddy and slippery.

Dorothy Tella
McLean, VA
dtella@xxxxxxxxxxxxx


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