[va-bird] Occoquan NWR, January 21

This is a somewhat tardy report of the trip to Occoquan NWR, Prince William County, by members of the Montgomery Bird Club from Maryland, on Sunday, 1/21/07.
Highlights of this trip were 10 waterfowl species, including 2 hen Common Goldeneye, a Red-breasted Merganser, several Hooded Merganser, and 3 Wood Ducks. There were thousands of Scaup, rafting and flying around, as reported earlier by Jay Keller, whom we saw at the refuge. We also had 8 Sparrow species, including American Tree, Field, and Swamp; a late Common Yellowthroat, 3 Winter Wrens, a Brown Thrasher, and a brief but good view of a single Rusty Blackbird. Raptors were not plentiful but included 4 Bald Eagles, 4 Red-tailed Hawks, and a Northern Harrier harassing a perched American Kestrel.
We had 47 species in total, not all of which were seen by everyone in the group. Our trip was brought to a premature end by snow, which drastically cut down on visibility.
As an interesting sidelight, no one asked us to produce our Special Use Permit, now required of all "organized groups" visiting the refuge. We did, of course, possess one, although I personally seriously question whether the FWS refuge manager should be putting birding groups through this particular bureaucratic hurdle. 

Mike Bowen
Montgomery Bird Club
Maryland Ornithological Society


D. H. Michael Bowen (Mike)
8609 Ewing Drive
Bethesda MD 20817-3845
Tel/Fax: (301) 530-5764
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