[va-richmond-general] Re: I thought people on this list would enjoy this article about birdingby Metro subway!

saw it.  note west nile virus kills crows and people but sparrows appear
to get sick but recover. I think we'll stick to our ole fashion
approach. =


k-kreutzer@xxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
> =

> Kathy Kreutzer, Chesterfield, VA
> =

> washingtonpost.com
> To See a Blue Warbler, Try Taking the Red Line
> Birders Ride Metro for 'Big Day' Count
> =

> By D'Vera Cohn
> Washington Post Staff Writer
> Thursday, May 8, 2003; Page B01
> =

> Who would have thought that two of Washington's better birders -- the k=
ind of people who can identify a black-throated blue warbler or an orchar=
d oriole merely by hearing their songs -- would have trouble finding a cr=
ow?
> =

> But that's the problem John Bjerke and Neal Fitzpatrick found themselve=
s with at midafternoon yesterday, nine hours into an expedition to count =
as many species as they could see or hear in one day.
> =

> It is called the "big day" in the world of birding. This year, Bjerke a=
nd Fitzpatrick decided on an unusual approach suited to an urban environm=
ent: birding by Metrorail, moving by train from place to place during the=
 peak of spring migration.
> =

> "Things are definitely starting to move through," Bjerke said the day b=
efore, after reading the increasingly feverish postings on a local birdin=
g e-mail list.
> =

> Bjerke and Fitzpatrick had both done the 4 a.m.-to-midnight big day ple=
nty of times, blasting around by car with lots of quick stops. The hunt c=
an get so intense, Bjerke noted, that one New Jersey birding organization=
 ruled that no team could win its big-day competition if any of its membe=
rs got a traffic ticket.
> =

> Birding by rail seemed like a mellower approach. It would demonstrate t=
he rich variety of species that can be found even in such a noisy, built-=
up area as the District. The trade-off would be that they had to do it on=
 a weekday because Metro starts running too late on the weekends to catch=
 the busy dawn bird chorus.
> =

> The two first tried rail-birding last year as participants in a competi=
tive fundraiser for the Audubon Naturalist Society, a local environmental=
 group. They recorded 74 species in 12 hours, some spotted from a moving =
train. When competition time rolled around this year, they planned a rail=
 route that would take them to Rock Creek Park, Kenilworth Aquatic Garden=
s and Theodore Roosevelt Island.
> =

> Bjerke, 53, a government statistician, and Fitzpatrick, 54, Audubon Nat=
uralist Society director, began at 5:15 a.m. at the Shady Grove Metro sto=
p, turning up cardinals, mockingbirds and other local residents at and ne=
ar the station.
> =

> Later, riding the escalator up from the Woodley Park/Zoo station, they =
looked up and nabbed a flock of black-crowned night herons, which roost a=
t the zoo. A pigeon was noted.
> =

> The two men expected to identify most species by their songs, because b=
irds can conceal themselves amid the tree leaves. Down the path into Rock=
 Creek Park, winding past the back of the National Zoo, they heard phoebe=
s, gnatcatchers and sparrows. At 6:40 a.m. -- "Finally," Bjerke said -- t=
hey saw the D.C. state bird, a wood thrush.
> =

> A hairy woodpecker sat on the trail ahead, and a group of brightly atti=
red male wood ducks were in the stream. And with traffic roaring by 10 fe=
et away, the two birders happily heard the three-part song of the Tenness=
ee warbler.
> =

> Walking slowly and silently, one or the other stopped abruptly when he =
caught a few notes of bird song. The sun was fighting off the morning fog=
 as they headed up Klingle Road, a potholed, closed-off street beloved by=
 birders but which the city wants to reopen. A cinnamon scent rose from t=
he ground.
> =

> When the sunlight reached the top of the trees, it warmed up the insect=
s, bringing them to life and attracting flocks of birds to feast on them.=
 Amid all the flitting, buzzing and gliding, the pair bagged 46 species b=
y the time they left the park for a Starbucks break at 9 a.m. "Not so bad=
 for the middle of the city," Bjerke said. Still, he was puzzled by one t=
hing: "No crow. Amazing."
> =

> They rode the subway downtown with the suit-and-tie commuters, then hea=
ded out on the Orange Line toward the Deanwood stop. Riding above ground =
between Stadium/Armory and Minnesota Avenue, when the train crosses the A=
nacostia River, they pointed to several window birds, including an egret =
and a ring-billed gull. "We're out in open country!" Bjerke joked as the =
train passed the massive Benning Road power plant.
> =

> Outside the station, heading to the pedestrian bridge over the Anacosti=
a Freeway, they heard a Baltimore oriole. It was a 10-minute walk to Keni=
lworth Aquatic Gardens, which was packed with goldfinches, catbirds, flic=
kers and indigo buntings. Swallows swooped over the marsh, catching insec=
ts. They saw a warbling vireo in the same tree in which they had seen one=
 last year. Hawk and osprey flew by.
> =

> The sun burned overhead and the air was steamy when they left the park =
shortly before 1 p.m. They were up to 71 species -- three short of last y=
ear's total -- and though they had a fish crow, they still had no America=
n crow.
> =

> >From the Rosslyn stop, it was another 10-minute walk to Roosevelt Isla=
nd, down a path bordered by the fragrant dripping white blooms of the bla=
ck locust. They stopped at the Potomac River.
> =

> "It would be nice to see a kingfisher," Bjerke said. Obligingly, one sp=
ed by, a blue-crested bird with a white stripe around its neck.
> =

> "Kingfisher on demand," said Fitzpatrick.
> =

> But the island itself, though known as an excellent birding spot, would=
 yield little else new. Birds are less active at midday, and the ones the=
 birders saw were species they had already seen. As airplanes thundered o=
verhead, a cedar waxwing finally brought them to 74, tying last year's to=
tal. But 12 hours after starting out, back at Shady Grove, they had spott=
ed neither an American crow nor a house wren, two of the most common bird=
s around.
> =

> "That's the way it is," said Bjerke, who pronounced himself "pretty hap=
py" with the count.
> =

> =A9 2003 The Washington Post Company
> =

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