VA BIRDers,
Another wonderful warm day up in Northern Virginia! At least since July,
that is! Anyway, the regular Sunday morning field trip to Dyke Marsh
(sponsored by the Friends of Dyke Marsh and free to all) was well-attended
and yielded a few good sightings for the observers. Highlights were Great
Egret (only a few are likely present up here in early February!), Redhead, a
few Greater Scaup (seen at close distance), Eastern Phoebe (not an easy bird
to find up here in February either!), Brown Creeper, Winter Wren, Gray
Catbirds, American Tree Sparrow, Fox Sparrow and Rusty Blackbird - singing no
less! (if you call that a song). I should also mention that Northern
Cardinals have been singing for the past week - a wonderful species that is
likely underappreciated. And some E. Starlings have been noted sporting
yellow bills, too.
We started off at the picnic area. The tide was a bit high but we used the
opportunity to study gulls foraging in the shallow water near us, comparing
Ring-billed to Herring. The Great Egret flew past during one of these
moments, flying north to the shallows near Hunting Creek. We scoped several
nearby ducks, mostly Common Mergansers and Ruddies. Moving toward the marina
we spotted a Brown Creeper in a picnic area tree. We all got satisfying
looks as this bird froze in place near a fork for several minutes - very
unusual. The marina area brought us near to the Am. Coot group with a few
others mixed in including Lesser Scaup and Firestone, the Ring-necked Duck.
Before moving onto Haul Rd, Mary Floyd and Ray Smith found a fine month
rarity - an Eastern Phoebe foraging along the edge of the lagoon behind the
office. Overhead in a nearby sycamore was a male Rusty Blackbird doing a
rendition of ... well, I am not sure. I suppose it was a song! Anyway, we
all got a chance to gaze upon this fellow before moving on. Along Haul Road
we had a great woodpecker day for Dyke - 2 Pileated Woodpeckers (a pair!) and
a Hairy WP - both are not easy to come by at this location. A noted a north
bound flock of a dozen plus Cedar Waxwings overhead. Two Gray Catbirds were
also located - fine February species for all.
Near the dogleg, a keen-eyed observer spotted a Fox Sparrow in a bush near
the marsh edge. As we looked upon the giant sparrow, an Am. Tree Sparrow
flew up and perched underneath the bird! Whoa! Great scopes looks were
obtained by a few of the quick hands until the Fox-y bird relocated.
At the end of the boardwalk we scoped more ducks floating about 50 yds off
the end, including the Redhead - mixed in with the Am. Coot - and several
Greater Scaup. We spotted a couple of Red-tailed Hawks above the treeline
near the parkway. Also moving above the treeline were several groups of Am.
Robins - we tallied 136 for the day. As we retraced our steps back to our
cars, we came across a Winter Wren who allowed us a brief look at her
contenence before diving into the brush near Dead Beaver Beach.
I returned to Dyke later in the day to tally duck numbers and noted the
addition of Pied-billed Grebe, Gadwall, Am. Wigeon, No. Pintail and
Green-winged Teal. I also spotted many birders out today - for the latter,
please drop me a line with your sightings so that I may incorporate them into
the database. (Note: today's big miss were kinglets.) Thanks!
Kurt Gaskill
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