VA-Birders,
After returning from the ABA (American Birding Association) Convention in
McAllen, TX, last night, I went to Fort Smith Park in Arlington Co. about 10
am this morning to check the bird nest boxes and see what birds were about.
Bill Cross and Joanna Taylor joined me. We also cut down the weeds in front of
the Bird Stream so we could see birds coming to bathe in the stream. Thanks
to Joanna, who did most of the cutting.
We checked the 3 Bluebird nest boxes, and we found a Carolina Chickadee
nest and 5 eggs in one box, and House Wren nests in the other 2.
Unfortunately, the wrens removed a chickadee nest from one of the boxes and
built one of
their own.
As for the birds, our casual morning birding lasted 3 hours and we
tallied 50 species, after I stopped by briefly a little later on the way home
from
an errand and added the adult Bald Eagle I saw flying over the park. Other
highlights for the day included 2 Great Crested Flycatchers, both Summer and
Scarlet Tanagers, a Blue Grosbeak (which I saw again on my later visit), an
Indigo
Bunting, and a first-year male Orchard Oriole. The Summer Tanager was a very
red-orange female (possibly the same bird we saw at the park last year), and
the Scarlet Tanagers were 2 males.
Finally, we had 2 Great Egrets fly over, which we suspect may be a new
species for the park bird list.
Val Kitchens
Arlington, VA
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