VABIRDers,
Seven hearty souls turned out for the regular Sunday morning Field Trip
(0800) at Dyke Marsh, sponsored by the Friends of Dyke Marsh and free to all.
We all agreed the highlight of the day was the Merlin flying in the marina
area! We first noted this falcon swooping in on a House Finch which got a
reprieve as the morning entree! We then scoped the Merlin for several
minutes in the trees near the marina. I think Paula Sullivan got a few
pictures of this mostly cooperative raptor.
Other highlights of the day were a Great Egret continuing to withstand the
frozen onslaught of the January cold front (ice was near its feet), a fine
flock of 40 Greenw-inged Teal which at one point flew about in unison as an
adult Bald Eagle flew overhead, 3 dozen Hooded Mergansers were spotted at
Pipeline Bay, 4 male Red-breasted Mergansers which sat down to feed near a
few hundred Am. Coots just off the end of the Haul Rd., a half-dozen Bald
Eagles, a Cooper's Hawk digesting a mid-day snack near the Stone Bridge, a
couple of uncooperative Winter Wrens along Haul Rd, a cooperative mix of
kinglets in the picnic area and along Haul Rd (which was great as this is a
weak year for them around here), a single Hermit Thrush found by the keen
eyes of Roger Miller (not an easy bird at Dyke ya' know!), two Gray Catbirds
which cruise almost the entire length of Haul Rd whilest foraging, and a few
Swamp Sparrows. We ended the day with 50 species tallied; a dozen of them
were ducks.
Kurt Gaskill
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