Hello, birders.
Late on Sunday the 8th, I surveyed Bald Eagles at the
end of the Great Marsh Trail at Mason Neck NWR. The
weather was so much nicer then it has been the
previous few weeks, which made standing around for 2
hours much more enjoyable. The temperature when I
arrived was 40 degrees F. Around sunset, it dropped
rapidly - it was 32 when I left at 10 of 6. The
conditions were calm. I didn't see anything
spectacular but it was a nice time out.
Red-winged Blackbirds were getting ready for spring,
signning from the naked trees. I heard a pair of
Great Horned Owls hooting in the woods to the north,
plus one more bird across the marsh to the west. A
few hundred Robins flew over in small flocks, heading
east. One of the 3 eagles that I spotted was perched
in a tree by the Potomac for over an hour. A GREATER
YELLOWLEGS surprised me with its "too-too-too" call,
flying over and then into the mostly frozen marsh.
Gulls, ducks and other waterbirds were mostly limited
to the Potomac.
During the two hours before sunset, I counted the
following birds:
-Gr. Blue Heron, 4
-Can. Goose, 54
-T. Swan, 12
-Mallard, 15
-G.w. Teal, 15
-Hooded Merg., 3
-Common Merg., 86
-B. Eagle, 3 adult
-Gr. Yellowlegs, 1
-R.billed Gull, 25+
-Herring Gull, 3
-Gr. Black-backed Gull, 1
-Gr. Horned Owl, 3
-Red-bellied Woodpecker, 2
also 1 on trail
-Downy Woodpecker, 1
-Hairy Woodpecker, trail only, 1
-No. Flicker, 1
-Pileated Woodpecker, 1
-Am. Crow, 2
-Car. Chickadee, 2
also 1 on trail
-T. Titmouse, 2
also 4 on trail
-W.b. Nuthatch, trail only, 1
-Car. Wren, 1
-G.c. Kinglet, 1
-Am. Robin, 365
-Song Sparrow, 2
-Swamp Sparrow, 2
-No. Cardinal, 1
-R.w. Blackbird, approx. 60
Also, there were 115+ Mallard/Black ducks, 200+
waterfowl sp., 25+ R.b./Herring Gulls and about 12
blackbird sp. which were too far away to ID.
Scott Baron
Fairfax, Va.
__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Finance: Get your refund fast by filing online.
http://taxes.yahoo.com/filing.html
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.
