What a fine day to be birding. Met up with Tom Wood fairly early
and decided to start at Huntly Meadows, nothing much to report there
just the usual suspects lurking on the water, Green Wing Teal, Northern
Pintail, Ring Billed Gulls and of course Canada Geese. We decided to
continue on to Jackson M. Abbot Wetlands. This was a first time for me
there and although there is a small pond near the parking lot it is the
large wetland that interested me. The wetland is mostly mud flats now
but it struck me that it would be good for shorebirds on their return.
The meager amount of open water did contain about 9 Green Wing Teals
with 7 of them being males looking quite spectacular. After watching 2
male Flickers vying for the attention of a single female we decided it
was about time to move on to Julie Metz Wetlands and some sparrow
stalking. Not to be disappointed, at about 11 am the Harris's made a
short but very impressive showing being viewed from as close as about 20
feet. The view I got from this life bird almost made me feel guilty,
like I didn't have to work hard enough for it. I quickly recovered from
my guilt though when I thought about all the times I've stood freezing
in the winter wind looking in vain for some other life bird that did not
appear. Sue Heath arrived just as the Harris's flew off into the woods
but we stood around awhile longer and sure enough the Harris's
reappeared feeding in the trail eventually disappearing once again. Tom
and I decided to move on to Mason Neck to see what might be found.
While Tom and I were having a brief stop for lunch I received a call
from Sue telling me that a Ross's Goose had been sighted at Belvoir
pond. After a brief discussion Tom and I decided to go for the Twitch,
45 min later we were on the side of the pond looking at an adult Ross's
Goose among a large flock of Canada Geese.
What can I say the day was warm, and the birds were fantastic.
Greg Justice
Centreville VA
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