VA-Birders,
Rob Hilton asked me to post the following for him. Glad he had
success! I was there from about 10:20-10:50 and did not see or hear
it. Looks like seeing the bird might require a little more patience
than I had!
Paula Sullivan
Alexandria
I arrived at Occoquan Regional Park just after 11 am.You are subscribed to VA-BIRD. To post to this mailing list, simply send email
Howard Elitzak was also there, and we stayed in the
park until about 2:30 pm. Our first encounter with
the Brown-headed Nuthatch was at about 12:30 pm, and
we had other encounters until about 1:25 pm. During
this last encounter we both saw the bird for several
seconds at a time, and I had a clear naked-eye view as
it flew across the road and down the hill, while
Howard was able to see brown on its head as it moved
around in a tree canopy. The bird was not calling
very much, but when it did, its rapid-fire nasal call
(which I can't describe well beyond "it was a
Brown-headed Nutchatch call") was distinctly heard.
The bird didn't seem to call much unless Carolina
Chickadees were calling, and the chickadees were
neither calling nor very active today.
Between about 1120 or so and 1220, Howard and I walked
slowly down the road to the river, and a little way
along the river. Along the river were several Myrtle
Warblers, a Brown Creeper, a silent White-breasted
Nuthatch, a Golden-crowned Kinglet, a titmouse, a
couple of chickadees, and a Carolina Wren. It wasn't
until we had walked back up the hill that Howard heard
the nuthatch.
At first, the bird was between the first and second
brick things redirecting the water flow (as Sue so
ably put it yesterday), and on the right (west) side
of the road. It later flew downhill to between the
second and third brick things, and was on the left
(east) side of the road. Note that the first water
directing thing isn't all brick; the second water
directing thing is all brick and is what I am calling
the first brick thing. If I remember correctly, the
third brick thing is the final brick thing and has
some very small conifers adjacent to it.
Happy New Year,
Rob Hilton
aimophila10@xxxxxxxxx
Silver Spring, Maryland
