Hello birders,
It was a great day for birding, despite the cold weather.
Dave Larsen, Phil Silas and I headed to Occoquan Sewage Plant in Centerville.
The warm pond was a magnet for the local waterfowl and we found hundreds of
ducks, geese and grebes. Our highlights were 3 species of grebes (Pied-billed,
Horned and Red-necked) and a very nice diversity of ducks (Hooded and Common
Mergansers, N. Shovelers, Gadwall, Ring-necked duck, Wood Duck, Bufflehead,
etc.). Thank you Phil for introducing me to this fabulous spot!
Phil and I continued on to Pohick Bay Park in search of more waterfowl. At
first we scoped the very large concentration of ducks in the open water off the
end of the parking area. Thousands of ducks including many of the same species
from OSP. We also added: Tundra Swan, Lesser Scaup, American Wigeon, Northern
Pintail, Canvasback, and Ruddy Duck. Thankfully, Rob came along and redirected
our focus in the direction of the White-winged Scoter and Long-tailed Duck off
the boat ramp area. It looks completely frozen, but there are open pockets of
water.
The Eared Grebe lured me away from the abundant waterfowl at PBP. This
afternoon, it was in a mixed flock of scaup, canvasback and bufflehead swimming
near the boats at Belle Haven Marina. Wow, a four-grebe day! :)
Good birding!
Candice Lowther
Bristow, VA
