VA-Birders,
The winds did finally arrive, but not before Sharon Lynn and I had one
lovely sparrow morning at Julie Metz Wetlands. Each of us had had one
earlier unsuccessful attempt to find the Harris's Sparrow, but today
was our day. One stretch of trail was really jumping with sparrows and,
not only did the Harris's delight us with terrific views there at about
8:15 am, but Tree Sparrows posed for portraits, a female Common
Yellowthroat popped up and surprised us, and then a bird, almost
certainly a Clay-colored Sparrow, made a brief appearance. The
Clay-colored was feeding on the ground at the edge of the path, and
although I wasn't able to see the rear of the bird well, the view of
the head and breast in my scope was pretty convincing. Sharon and I
were both struck by its very small size, very pale supercilium and
malar, and unmarked breast. I hope someone else can get out there to
confirm this sighting.
These four species were all seen along the trail that leads west from
the Julie Metz memorial and roughly parallels Neabsco Road. You pass a
bench, then a bluebird box, both on your left, and continue another 30
feet or so. There is a 7-foot mixed bush/sapling on the right side of
the path. The Harris's was in that bush and the rest of the birds just
mentioned were in the immediate area. The morning sun is perfect as you
walk west along that trail.
The list (cells to the west and north of the parking lot only):
Turkey Vulture 3
Canada Goose 60
Bald Eagle 1
Sharp-shinned Hawk 1
Laughing Gull 500+
Ring-billed Gull 100 +
Great Black-backed Gull 30+
Rock Dove 6
Mourning Dove 20
Belted Kingfisher 1
Red-bellied Woodpecker 2
Downy Woodpecker 7
No Flicker 6
Blue Jay 6
crow, sp 4
Carolina Chickadee 12
Tufted Titmouse 3
Carolina Wren 8
Winter Wren 1
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 4
Eastern Bluebird 10
American Robin 25
No Mockingbird 5
Euro Starling 40
Cedar Waxwing 20
Yellow-rumped Warbler 5
Common Yellowthroat 1
American Tree Sparrow 6
Clay-colored Sparrow 1
Field Sparrow 5
Fox Sparrow 3
Song Sparrow 25
Swamp Sparrow 14
White-throated Sparrow 40
Harris's Sparrow 1
Dark-eyed Junco 12
No Cardinal 12
RW Blackbird 90
Co Grackle 20
House Finch 4
American Goldfinch 20
Paula Sullivan
Alexandria, VA
You are subscribed to VA-BIRD. To post to this mailing list, simply send email
to va-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx. To unsubscribe, send email to
va-bird-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field.
