FreeLists / va-bird / [va-bird] No. VA teens at Huntley Meadows, Fairfax County

[Frederick Atwood <fredatwood@xxxxxxxxx>]

Our first field trip for the Northern Virginia
Teen Bird Club was this morning (10/04)at Huntley
Meadows Park in Fairfax County.  Freshman Cody
Vaughan and Sophomore David Kay joined me in the
cold wind after the rain stopped. We were at
Huntley from about 8:45 to about 11:15.

It was a good day for shorebirds: 

Lesser and Greater Yellowlegs in the same scope
view, learned the calls of both

Stilt Sandpiper in the same scope view as Lesser
Yellowlegs for comparison of plumage, shape and
behavior.

Pectoral Sandpiper, also with yellowlegs and
feeding on the mud.

Solitary Sandpiper 5 meters from the boardwalk,
fantastic view!

Spotted Sandpiper

As we were on our way back out on the boardwalk
an American Golden Plover flew over calling.  We
hoped it would land but it didn't.

This was the first bird walk ever for both Cody
and David so they started their birding careers
with some pretty exciting birds.  

We also had great views of bluebirds (feeding,
being chased by phoebe and goldfinch), downy
woodpecker(male and female), great egrets
(catching a fish, excellent grating croak call,
one displacing another from its feeding site),
common yellowthroat(male and female), two
tail-wagging phoebes, female red-winged
blackbird, white-breasted nuthatch, ring-billed
gulls (including one diving to catch a fish or
tadpole) lots of male cardinals but no females
(strange), and an adult great blue heron.  We
also were treated to the sight of an immature
Cooper's Hawk chasing a belted kingfisher who
dived into the water, rattling raucously, to
escape the clumsy-looking accipiter.  Nearby
titmice and chickadees were emitting their
high-pitched warning about this aerial predator. 
(We saw 3 other Cooper's Hawks flying and/or
chasing starlings along the Beltway.)

We had not-so-excellent views of the following:
red-eyed vireo
2 tail-wagging yellow palm warblers
1 mostly-hidden tennessee warbler
1 black-throated green warbler
2 tree-top blackpoll warblers that gave us aching
necks
several not-so-gold goldfinches
song sparrow
swamp sparrow
gray catbird
1 cedar waxwing (flying over calling)
hairy and red-bellied woodpeckers
flicker
pileated woodpecker(heard only)
1 tree swallow
1 rough-winged swallow
1 chimney swift
1 indigo bunting
green-winged teals, mallards
dozens of robins
dozens of grackles, many of which had strange
shaped tails due to their feather molt

Please spread the word to any teens you know that
birding IS cool and that there ARE other teen
birders out there who would love to watch birds
with them.  Please have any interested teens call
or e-mail me so I can get feedback from them on
their views on what would make a teen bird club
meet their needs (times to meet, how often,
places to go, other things to do besides field
trips, how to spread the word, etc).

All the best
Fred


=====
Frederick D. Atwood     fredatwood@xxxxxxxxx
Flint Hill School, 10409 Academic Dr, Oakton, VA 22124
703-242-1675     
http://www.agpix.com/fredatwood
http://www.flinthill.org

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