On this morning's walk with the dog, I was treated to some lucky
bird sightings! I was at the Clermont Park baseball fields (on
Telegraph Rd, 22310), near the treeline...
First, I spotted my first ever leucistic bird - presumedly a WHITE
THROATED SPARROW, as those were the sparrows it was associating with.
(That alone made me chuckle, as if the white of the throat had
overtaken the bird!) The tail was brown, as was part of the back,
but the head, chest and most of the back were as white as white could
be. It's the first leusistic bird I've ever seen, so I was a bit sad
to not have binocs! But, the dog behaved, and the bird allowed me to
get fairly close to it (15/20 feet). Very cool!
As I was watching the sparrows, 2 EASTERN BLUEBIRDS came and sat on
the baseball field fences close by! I've lived in this area for
several years, but never have seen bluebirds here before (though,
they very well might have been here). I'm wondering about the
possibility of setting up bluebird boxes at the back of the fields
(I've always wanted a chance to help maintain bluebird boxes!). It
might be too busy of a place for them when baseball games are in
session, I'm not sure.
Then, to top off the walk, I saw my 2nd HERMIT THRUSH in two days in
the woods heading back home.
Not bad for a dog walk!
-Renee Grebe
Alexandria, VA
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