Ben Jesup and I had a short but GREAT morning exploring and scouting Ft.
Belvoir for our annual bit of insanity we like to call the Fairfax County Big
Day.
We did the area along the Potomac near the ruins and then Accotink Bay near the
archery range. We picked a lot of "first of the year" birds for us including
Forster's Terns, Chimney Swift, and N. Rough Winged Swallow. We also had a
possible/probable female Common Goldeneye in flight (more on that later).
Here's the list in roughly taxonomic order:
(birds marked with # are first of the year birds for me)
Common Loon - 2 # (1 in breeding plumage, 1 in winter)
Pied Bill Grebe 2
Horned Grebe 1 beautiful bird in breeding plumage
Great Blue 10
D.C. Cormorant - 50+
Tundra Swan - 12
C. Goose 6
Green Winged Teal 2
Wood Duck 2
Malard 2
Common Goldeneye (f) # - probable *(see below)
Red Breasted Merg - 1 f
Common Merg 2 f
TV
Osprey 8
R.S. Hawk 1
R.T. Hawk 1
Snipe 2
Killdeer 1
Caspian Tern 10 #
Forster's Tern - 8 # (most were still in winter plumage, but at least 1 was in
breeding plumage)
All the woodpeckers except Red Headed
W.B. Nuthatch 3
Brown Creeper
Bluebird 2
B.G. Gnatcatcher 2 #
Hermit Thrush 2-3
R.C. Kinglet 8
G.C. Kinglet 2
Solitary Vireo 1 # (Blue Headed if you prefer innacurate, boring names!)
Pine Warbler
L.A. Waterthrush 2 #
Yellow Rumped Warbler
Brown Thrasher 2 #
Song/White Throat/Fox/Chipping Sparrows
Junco 30
Towhee 2
Chimney Swift 1 #
Tree Swallow 15
N. Rough Winged 1 #
* Common Goldeneye notes: We first saw this bird in flight and we never saw it
land. I was able to get the scope on it for a few seconds as it flew away from
us (we had a slight side view, but mostly from behind). The most noticible
feature were the white wing patches in the scapulars, but they weren't confined
to just the scapular like a Bufflehead. They covered more of the wing and had
a look similar to female Red Breasted/Common Mergs.
The head and bill were NOT Merganser shapped at all. The head was short and
stocky and stubby and had a steep forehead (very different from the long, flat,
thin head of any of the Mergs). The bill also seemed bigger and thicker than
the needle-like look of a Merg. bill in flight. The head was shapped like a
female Bufflehead's head, but I didn't see any contrast or any white cheek
patch (but I don't know if you can always see that in flight). Speaking of
Buffleheads, this bird didn't look quite as compressed and stocky as they do in
flight. It seemed to be more streched out from bill to tail than a Bufflehead
looks.
The body and back were a generic dark color. Not black, but sort of a drab
grey with no obvious contrast anywhere.
I didn't see the white collar around the neck that the female Goldeneye has,
but that may be due to the angle of viewing.
Summary:
General head shape - like a Bufflehead (not a merganser)
General wing pattern - like a female Common/Red Breasted Merganser (not like a
Bufflehead)
Bart Hutchinson
Alexandria, VA
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