VA BIRDers,
I was at Occoquan Bay NWR also this morning - popular spot! I arrived ca.
6AM to point count rails - great dawn chorus! I tallied 7 King Rails.
Given the King Rail at Metz found by Kim Peacock it seems there was a fine
push of them into the area! (I need to compare notes with Jay Keller as the
OBNWR total may climb). Many of these King Rails are along the main trails
and so observations could be easy at this time.
During the counts I noted other birds present and also visited Bill Teetz et
al at the banding station. Fine work being done at the latter. Nothing too
unusual on the list, which I include below (I was not very thorough). After
OBNWR, I visited a potential rail site at Mason Neck NWR but came up empty -
I noted a Great Egret near the rookery and a Northern Parula along
blacktopped High Point Rd. I did not have a chance to visit the Belmont Bay
overlook.
I then drove out to Manassas Battlefield meeting up with Linda Millington
for a few hours. Blue Headed Vireo was notable at this location. At North
Fork Wetlands there was a Solitary Sandpiper.
Following is my 2 hrs worth of OBNWR observations.
Kurt Gaskill
C. Goose 6
Wood Duck 4
Mallard 4
Blue-winged Teal 3
Green-winged Teal 2
Ruddy Duck 2
DC Cormorant 5
Great Blue Heron 6
Great Egret 1
Osprey 10
Bald Eagle 4
Red-tailed Hawk 2
King Rail 7
Killdeer 1
Greater Yellowlegs 2
Wilson's Snipe 15
American Woodcock 3, 2 were displaying
Ring-billed Gull 3
Herring Gull 1
Great Black-backed Gull 6
Mourning Dove 1
Red-bellied WP 1
Downy WP 5
Hairy WP 1
No. Flicker 3
Blue Jay 6
Am. Crow 5
Fish Crow 5
Tree Sw 8
No. Rough-winged Sw 1
C. Chickadee 2
C. Wren 5
Blue-gray Gnatcatcher 2
E. Bluebird 3
Am. Robin 1
No. Mockingbird 3
Brown Thrasher 3
E. Starling 5
Yellow-rumped Warbler 5
Palm Warbler 1 (Yellow - the station had banded a Western Palm several min.
before)
Common Yellowthroat 2
E. Towhee 8
Field Sp 20
Savannah Sp 3
Song Sp 6
Swamp Sp 15, most were singing
White-throated Sp 30
No. Cardinal 15
Red-winged BB 30
E. Meadowlark 2
Rusty BB 1
Common Grackle 4
Brown-headed Cowbird 6
Am. Goldfinch 2
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