Another beautiful morning for the weekly Dyke Marsh walk. The highligh was
least bittern, which was unusually cooperative. From the platform at the end
of the boardwalk I found a brightly-colored one hunting on the mud along the
edge of the water (tide pretty low). I got it in the scope and we all got
great looks. It eventually flew out of view, and later we saw the same one(?)
fly over the marsh and drop into the grass. A little later we saw a rather
plain-looking least bittern flying over the grass, joined by a more brightly
colored bird. Rather than quickly dropping into the grass, they kept flying
until they disappeared behind some trees.
Other items of note were 4 each of baltimore and orchard oriole, with one of
the baltimores a young bird being fed by an adult. We saw a goldfinch working
on a complete-looking nest. Warbling vireos appeared to be absent from the
picnic area, but two males were loudly singing past the dogleg. All the osprey
nests appeared to be holding multiple large young. We heard at least 2 marsh
wrens singing from the grass, and I heard a house wren from the picnic area.
We also saw a brightly colored parrot in the marina.
Here is the list:
double-crested cormorant - 1
great blue heron - 5
least bittern - 2-3
mallard - 9
osprey - 14
herring gull - 4
mourning dove - 14
yellow-billed cuckoo - 1
chimney swift - 4
ruby-throated hummingbird - 1
red-bellied woodpecker - 2
downy woodpecker - 4
northern flicker - 2
great-crested flycatcher - 1
eastern kingbird - 3
purple martin 1
tree swallow - 7
northern rough-winged swallow - 2
barn swallow - 4
carolina wren - 10
house wren - 1
marsh wren - 2
gray catbird - 2
brown thrasher - 1
northern mockingbird - 2
American robin - 15 (picnic area full of them)
blue-gray gnatcatcher - 6
carolina chickadee - 6
tufted titmouse - 3
white-breasted nuthatch - 4
blue jay - 2
fish crow - 10
starling - 8
house sparrow - 8
warbling vireo - 2
red-eyed vireo - 1
house finch - 9
American goldfinch - 6
northern parula - 1
yellow warbler - 1
common yellowthroat - 2
song sparrow - 1
northern cardinal - 10
indigo bunting - 2
red-winged blackbird - 20
common grackle - 12
baltimore oriole - 4
orchard oriole - 4
Marc Ribaudo
Woodbridge, VA
