VA BIRDers,
The regular Sunday morning Field Trip at Dyke Marsh, sponsored by the Friends
of Dyke Marsh and free to all, was lead by Rich Rieger, recently returned
from a fruitful expedition to the Pacific Northwest. Today's highlights were
great looks at a diverse array of ducks in Hunting Creek Bay, a couple of E.
Phoebes, a fine showing by kinglets in 2 separate flocks, Gray Catbird, Palm
and Blackpoll Warblers along with many Yellow-rumped Warblers, and a couple
of Rusty Blackbirds. And, in the "too bad it got away" catagory, an apparent
Sedge Wren which uttered a single chip note as it dove into the cattails at
the end of the boardwalk near the small pond. Despite much pishing, which
raised only a couple of Song Sparrows, it remained quiet. Several minutes
later a small dark shape flew to the top of the cattails, made a u-turn, and
flew down and out of sight. Ughh! (I should add that a potential Sedge Wren
was reported by a good observer last week near the phragmites patch, although
the observer was not 100% certain to the identity of that cistothorus wren.)
We started off sorting through the waterfowl, clearly noting the huge
increase in Ruddy Duck numbers (675) and an increasing presence of Lesser
Scaup. The dabbler numbers are decreasing - as are the SAV mats which were
evident only close to the shoreline. One remaining floating bit of SAV held
4 Greater Yellowlegs. A few Bald Eagles graced us on the trip, 2 adults and
2 first winter birds. Haul Road yielded up the kinglet flocks and excellent
looks at both Golden-crowned and Ruby-crowned were had by all. The Blackpoll
was near the beginning of the trail and seemed a bit lethargic and kept in
deep foilage along the trail's edge. The first E. Phoebe was in the forest
along this section, the last was spotted near the end of the trail.
Mid-way down Haul Road brought us face-to-face with a good-sized
Yellow-rumped flock with a few kinglets mixed in. As we entered the marsh
along the dog-leg, we heard many Swamp Sparrows and some pishing brought in
some fine examples. This location produced both common accipters and
overflying Lesser Yellowlegs and Wilson's Snipe. Mid-way down a Palm Warbler
and Gray Catbird were noted and the Rusty Blackbirds were at the end of the
trail, feeding on berries. A scan of the Virginia ridgeline from the end of
the boardwalk produced the 2 Red-tailed Hawks and a couple of Chimney Swifts.
It was then the shy Sedge Wren called out from behind us, quickly ducking
from sight.
A late afternoon visit to the Hunting Creek mudflats produced 6 Short-billed
Dowitchers probing the mud near the creek edge. (This week has seen a great
decrease in shorebird numbers and diversity. For example, only one Killdeer
has been noted!) As I left, I noticed about 20 Chimney Swifts attempting to
forage over GW Parkway between Hunting Creek and the picnic area.
Please note that through the forethought of our leader, no House Sparrows
were recorded!
Added note: the first Bufflehead showed up today (10/21) and 2 Black-crowned
Night-Herons flew by at dusk.
Below are the statistics of today's discovery.
Kurt Gaskill
Pied-billed Grebe 30
DC Cormorant 30
Great Blue Heron 10
Great Egret 8
C. Goose ca. 100
Wood Duck 4
Gadwall 10
Am. Wigeon 4
Am. Black Duck 10
Mallard ca. 100
Blue-winged Teal 13
No. Shoveler 100-200
No. Pintail 3
Green-winged Teal ca. 40
Ring-necked Duck 2
Lesser Scaup 40
Ruddy Duck 675
Bald Eagle 4 (2 ad)
Sharp-shinned Hawk 1
Cooper's Hawk 1
Red-tailed Hawk 2
Am. Coot 250
Greater Yellowlegs 4
Lesser Yellowlegs 1
Short-billed Dowitcher 6
Wilson''s Snipe 1
L. Gull ca. 200
Ring-billed Gull ca. 50
Herring Gull 3
Greater Black-backed Gull 6
Caspian Tern 4
Forster's Tern 10
Rock Dove 5
Mourning Dove 1
Chimney Swift 20
Belted Kingfisher 2
Red-bellied WP 3
Downy WP 4
Hairy WP 2 (seen near dawn from the hike-bike trail near the gut)
No. Flicker 2
E. Phoebe 2
Blue Jay 6
Am. Crow 3
Fish Crow 30
C. Chickadee 12
T. Titmouse 1
C. Wren 9
W. Wren 1
GC Kinglet 14
RC Kinglet 7
Am. Robin 42
Gray Catbird 1
No. Mockingbird 2
E. Starling 50
Yellow-rumped Warbler 50
Palm Warbler 1
Blackpoll Warbler 1
Song Sparrow 6
Swamp Sparrow 15
White-throated Sparrow 20
DE "Vireo" Junco 1
No. Cardinal 12
Red-winged Blackbird ca. 250 (count was at dawn)
Rusty Blackbird 2
Common Grackle 12
House Finch 12
Am. Goldfinch 6
(additional note: a trip by this observer to Mason Neck and a view of
Belmont Bay porduced 2 Common Loons, 2 Greater Scaup, 120 Lesser Scaup and
ca. 920 Ruddy Ducks.)
You are subscribed to VA-BIRD. To post to this mailing list, simply send email
to va-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx. To unsubscribe, send email to
va-bird-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field.