[va-bird] NVBC, Worm-eating Warbler at Great Falls NP

Hello VA-Birders:

Last Tuesday morning (May 25th) three birders turned out for a Northern
Virginia Bird Club walk at Great Falls National Park.  We particularly hoped
to see a WORM-EATING WARBLER, a species that nests in Great Falls NP.  I had
seen one the previous Saturday along the Carriage Road (going uphill from
the bend in the road toward Georgetown Pike).  As we were heading out to
try to refind that bird, we encountered and got wonderful close-up looks at
a singing Worm-eating Warbler along the Matildaville trail, on the ridge
above the end of the old Patowmack Canal. We also enjoyed seeing a dozen
Great Blue Herons and two Black-crowned Night-Herons fishing from rocks in
the river below the falls.

In our 3 1/2-hour walk we counted 34 species. This compares to 55 species
recorded on the NVBC walk at Great Falls on May 14, 2003.  Last year's
count, 11 days earlier in May, included nine migrants (species that are
neither summer nor winter residents in this area) as well as one winter
resident (White-throated Sparrow).  On Tuesday we found no migrants and no
lingering winter residents.

We also counted fewer summer resident species. That is not too surprising.
Last year's NVBC walk had 15 birders, the routes were different on the two
walks, and the chorus of cicadas last Tuesday in Great Falls certainly made
it more difficult to hear birds. What is surprising is the very large
difference in the number of birds of three species in particular:

Chimney Swift   5/14/03 - 18;   5/25/04 - 0.
Red-eyed Vireo  5/14/03 - 25;   5/25/04 - 4 heard.
Scarlet Tanager   5/14/03 - 12;   5/25/04 - 0 counted on walk; I heard 1
singing as I left the park.

These are species usually found in large numbers in Great Falls NP, and it's
hard to believe that the unusual counts for last Tuesday can be attributed
entirely to human failure and cicadas.

Dorothy Tella
McLean, VA








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